LIBRARY  OF  PRINCE 


ON 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


0A875  .A22  1901 
Cathedrals  and  abbeys  of 
Presbyterian  Scotland  /  by 
Leicester  Addis. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/cathedralsabbeysOOaddi 


SCOTTISH  CATHEDRALS  AND  ABBEYS 


The 

Cathedrals  and  Abbeys 

of 

Presbyterian  Scotland 

-  / 

M.  E.   LEICESTER  ADDIS 


THE 


PHILADELPHIA 
WESTMINSTER 
190 1 


PRESS 


Co 

GEORGE  W.  CHILDS  UK  EX  EL,  Esq. 


PREFACE 


"  It  is  impossible  for  the  short  life  of  a  preface  to  travel  after  and 
overtake  far-off  antiquity  and  to  judge  of  it." — Raleigh. 

FOR  several  years  past  a  series  of  articles,  relating  to 
Scottish  History  and  Literature,  has  appeared  in  the 
columns  of  the  Public  Ledger  of  Philadelphia,  U.S.A. 
The  interest  created  and  expressed  in  those  dealing  with 
our  Abbeys  and  Cathedrals  (too  often  believed  to  be  all 
in  ruins)  by  its  readers  suggested  the  expansion  of  these 
sketches  into  a  more  detailed  and  consecutive  form. 
Thus  each  chapter  in  the  present  volume  contains  in 
narrative  the  leading  points  of  interest  associated  with  each 
building,  the  treatment  throughout  being  historical  rather 
than  architectural. 

There  are  several  popular  works  treating  of  the  Cathedrals 
and  Abbeys  of  England,  but,  so  far  as  known,  there  is 
no  comprehensive  edition  of  our  Scottish  Abbeys  and 
Cathedrals,  in  which  the  main  historical  facts,  culled  from 
recognised  authorities,  are  presented  in  a  popular  form 
which  will  appeal  to  the  educated  reader  who  makes  no 
claim  to  be  a  specialist. 

We  owe  so  much  to  the  Past ;  we  have  recovered  from 
the  fright  of  the  Reformation  ;  we  are  now  as  eager  to 
preserve  and  restore  as  were  our  forefathers  to  destroy  those 
fine  buildings,  the  heritages  of  earlier  days  when  simple 
craftsmen  and  scholarly  churchmen  alike  laboured  with 
their  hands  for  "  The  Glory  of  God." 

It  seems,  therefore,  specially  fitting  that  the  links  of  the 


X 


PREFACE 


chain  binding  the  Celtic  Church,  its  Saints,  and  its  tradi- 
tions, to  the  Latin  Church — founder  and  foster-mother  of 
three  of  our  Universities — should  be  understood  and  appre- 
ciated by  all  members  of  the  Scottish  Church,  which,  born 
of  much  tribulation,  has  none  the  less  benefited  from  the 
piety,  the  zeal,  and  the  learning  of  those  who  preached 
"The  Faith  of  our  Fathers." 

This  also  seems  a  fitting  opportunity  to  most  gratefully 
acknowledge  the  invaluable  assistance  so  freely  given  by  the 
Librarian  of  the  Drexel  Institute,  and  by  the  Staff  of  the 
Franklin  Library,  Philadelphia  ;  also  by  the  Provost  and 
Staff  of  the  Peabody  Library  in  Baltimore,  this  last  con- 
taining a  collection  of  Scottish  Histories,  Chartularies, 
Registers  and  special  publications  not  excelled  by  any  in 
our  own  country. 

The  author  is  also  indebted  for  much  information  as  to 
Celtic  life  and  traditions  to  A.  C.  Cameron,  LL.U. ;  for 
the  reading  of  proof  to  Mr.  B.  R.  Wills,  B.A.,  Cantab. ;  and 
to  Messrs.  Valentine  for  permission  to  use  their  photographs 
in  illustrating  the  work. 

M.  E.  L.  A. 

London,  1901. 


I  OX  A  - 

GLASGOW 

BRECHIN" 

ST.  MACHAR  - 

DUNBLANE  - 

DUN'KELD 

ST.  GILES 

ST.  MAGNUS  - 

DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 

PAISLEY  ABBEY 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 
I 

-         -  ...  9 

 3o 

42 

-  64 

 77 

 93 

-  "5 

-  138 

 i59 


xi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 

Glasgow  cathedral,  showixg  thk  xecropolis  -  Frontispiece 

IONA  FROM  THE  SOUTH-EAST  -----  I 

ST.  ORAX'S  CHAPEL  AND  TOMBS  OK  THE  KINGS         -  -  -  3 

ST.  MARTIN'S  CROSS     -------  4 

THE  INTERIOR  6 
GLASGOW  CATHEDRAL  -  -  -  -  "9 

THE  CHOIR  --------17 

THE  NAVE        --------  23 

THE  IRVING  WINDOW,  LOWER  CHURCH         -  -  -  Page  28 

BRECHIN  CATHEDRAL  AND  ROUND  TOWER    -  -  -  30 

ST.  MACHAR'S  CATHEDRAL       -  -  -  -  -  "42 

THE  NAVE  .-.---.-52 
QUEEN  MARGARET'S  COAT  OF  ARMS   -  -  -  -  -  6l 

DUNBLANE  CATHEDRAL  -  -  -  -  -  -  64 

THE  NAVE        --------  72 

DUNKELD  CATHEDRAL  -  -  -  -  "77 

ST.  GILES'  CATHEDRAL  -  -  93 

THE  MONTROSE  MONUMENT   -  -  -  -  -  98 

THE  ALBANY  AISLE     -  -  -  -  -  -  104 

THE  NAVE        --------  no 

ST.  MAGNUS     -  -  -  -  -  ...  -  US 

THE  NAVE       -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  132 

DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY,  WEST  FRONT  -  -  -  -  138 

THE  BRUCE'S  TOMB     -------  148 

PAISLEY  ABBEY  (BEFORE  PRESENT  RESTORATION')    -  -  -  159 

MARJORY  BRUCE'S  TOMB  ------  167 

THE  WEST  WINDOW    -  -  -  -  -  -  "174 

xiii 


LIST  OF 


AUTHORITIES  COX 
QUOTED. 


SULTED  AND 


Essays  ox  Abbeys  and  Cathedrals   Joseph  Robertson. 

Celtic  Scotland    Skene. 

History  of  Scotland   Hill  Burton. 

History  of  Scotland   Tytlcr. 

Chartularies  and  Registers    Cosmo  Innes. 

Legal  Antiquities    Cosmo  Innes. 

Social  Life  in  Early  Scotland    Roger. 

Early  Kings  of  Norway    Carlyle. 

Past  and  Present    Carlyle. 

Early  Daxish  Settlers    Worscee. 

Dark  Ages    ■   Maitland. 

Celtic  Saints    (Forbes). 

Pinkekton's  Saints    (Metcalf). 

Books  ok  Paisley  and  St.  Giles    Dr.  Cameron  Lees. 

Early  Days  of  William  Wallace   Lord  Bute. 

Ecclesiastical  Architecture  in  Scotland  MacGibbon  and  Ross. 

Scoto-Monasticox    Walcott. 

Ioxa    Duke  of  Argylc. 

Monks  of  the  West   Montalembert. 

Book  of  Deir,  Orkneyinga  Saga,  Chronicox  Clugxiense. 
Books  of  the  Spaldixg,  New  Spalding,  Maitland,  Baxantynk, 
and  Spottiswoode  Clubs. 

XV 


IONA 


St.  Columba. 
521-597  A.D. 


St.  Orax's  Chapel. 
1070. 


"There  is  one  problem  in  the  way  of  travel  which  has  always  for 
some  years  past  suggested  itself  as  a  thing  that  ought  to  be  done  : 
A  deliberate  sight  of  the  Island  of  Iona,  Icolmkill  or  whatever  they  call 
it,  one  of  the  remarkablest  spots  to  one  in  all  her  Majesty's  dominions." 

UCH  are  the  words  of  Thomas  Carlyle,  and  no  one 


can  possibly  accuse  him  of  sentimental  expressions. 


His  opinions  were  well  matured  before  expressed  ; 
his  judgments  ever  calm  and  weighty  ;  and  that  "ought  to 
be  done  "  comes  to  us  as  a  message  of  deliberate  commen- 
dation from  one  of  the  greatest  teachers  of  modern  times. 

The  story  of  this  lonely  islet,  washed  by  the  full  sweep  of 
the  mighty  Atlantic,  is  in  reality  the  story  of  the  civilisation 
and  progress — their  growth  in  grace — of  our  early  fore- 
fathers. 

Iona  has  been  called  "  The  cradle  of  Western  Christianity," 
and  should  therefore  occupy,  in  the  hearts  of  all  English- 
speaking  people,  a  place  second  only  to  Bethlehem, 
Jerusalem,  and  the  sacred  scenes  of  Palestine.  By  Scots, 
it  has  ever  been  regarded  as  the  birthplace  of  that  spirit  of 
religious  freedom  and  -liberty  of  conscience  which,  over- 
powered for  a  time,  was  restored  to  the  Churches  at  the 
Reformation,  and  which,  again  threatened,  led  to  the 
Puritan  exodus  Westward.  St.  Columba  came  to  Iona 
from  Ireland  in  563  a.d.  and  at  once  founded  a 
monastery  and  set  himself  with  mighty  zeal  to  the  work 


- 


IOXA 


of  converting  the  Northern  Picts.  How  thoroughly  he 
accomplished  his  life's  task  needs  no  proof  here  ;  the  results 
of  Columba's  efforts,  the  memories  of  his  influence  and 
strong  faith,  are  over  us  all  and  are  still  a  power  in  the 
land. 

The  Family  of  Iona  or  Brethren  of  the  Monastery  were 
of  three  ranks  :  the  preachers,  teachers,  and  scribes 
(workers  in  the  fields  and  in  the  mill),  also  the  pupils  who 
assisted  in  all  necessary  labours.  A  simple  community  too, 
leading  such  lives  as  did  the  fishermen  of  Galilee  ;  in 
compulsory  ignorance  of  gorgeous  robes  or  ritualistic  cere- 
mony because  of  the  very  poverty  of  their  environment. 
The  chanting  of  the  Psalms,  the  repetition  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  of  Heavenly  promises  from  inspired  Scripture, 
such  were  fully  sufficient  for  them  to  interpret  to  their  needs 
the  Story  of  the  Cross  in  their  cells  and  in  the  little  church 
built  of  wood,  wattles  and  clay,  all  roofed  with  thatch. 

The  ruins  we  now  see  of  Cathedral,  Nunnery,  St.  Oran's 
Chapel,  St.  Martin's  Cross,  and  the  Reilig  Odhrain,  stand  like 
finger-posts  pointing  backward,  as  sentries  guarding  hallowed 
ground.  When  Columba  died  in  597  A.D.,  "the  whole 
church  resounded  with  loud  lamentations  of  grief."  The 
monastery  he  had  founded  had  come  to  be  acknowledged 
as  the  head  of  all  the  various  monasteries  or  churches 
throughout  Scotland  and  Northern  England,  and  had 
even  extended  its  influence  over  older  foundations  in 
Ireland. 

Then  the  marauding  Norsemen — Pagans  who  "  feared 
neither  God  nor  man,"  ever  showing  special  aversion  to 
all  forms  of  mental  intelligence  —  swept  down  the  west 
coast,  burning  and  slaying,  and  Iona  suffered  keenly.  In 
rapid  succession  we  have  records  of  fire  and  sword  in  the 
years  795,  798,  and  802  a.d.  ;  then  in  806  A.D.,  sixty-eight  of 
the  family  of  Iona  were  killed.  The  precious  relics  of 
Columba  were  carried  off  to  Ireland  for  safety  in  807  A.D., 
and  remained  at  Kells  till  818  A.D.,  at  which  date  the  build- 
ings in  Iona  were  replaced  in  stone.     The  irrepressible 


10XA 


3 


Dane  returned  in  878  A.D. ;  the  relics  were  again  moved 
for  safety  to  Dunkeld,  to  Abernethy,  finally  to  Ireland,  and 
until  1074  the  story  is  of  repeated  plunder  and  ruin. 

Oran  was  the  first  of  Columba's  monks  to  die  on  Iona. 
To  Oran's  memory  Queen  Margaret  dedicated  a  chapel  over 
the  site  of  Columba's  original  church,  and  so  St.  Oran's  ruins 
take  precedence  over  all  others,  even  though  they  date  five 
hundred  years  later  than  St.  Columba's  day.  So  sacred  was 
this  spot,  that  tradition  tells  that  even  the  terrible  Magnus 
of  Norway  started  back  from  its  low  doorway  and  spared 
it  in  his  raid.  Tradition,  not  always  reliable,  may  be 
fully  trusted  in  this  instance,  because  of  the  Reilig  Odhrain 
or  royal  burial  place.  "  Among  the  tenacious  affections  of 
the  Celt,  there  is  none  more  tenacious  than  that  which 
clings  to  the  place  which  is  consecrated  to  the  Dead."  Even 
when  Columba  landed,  this  place  was  believed  to  be  the 
centre  of  Druidic  worship.  Fergus  II.,  ally  of  Alaric  the 
Goth  who  sacked  Rome,  was  buried  here  a  century  before 
Columba's  landing,  and  between  him  and  good  Prince 
Conal,  who  gave  the  island  to  the  Saint,  were  five  kings 
— so  much  for  mythical  history.  Here,  too,  a  year  after 
Conal's  death,  was  ordained  Aidan  warrior  Christian  who 
carried  the  Gospel  message  into  Northern  England  and  sent 
the  spoils,  seized  from  Pagan  Saxons  and  Picts,  back  to 
Iona.  From  404  A.D.  to  1040 — or  from  Fergus  II.  to  the 
Great  Macbeth — forty-eight  kings  of  Scotland,  eight  kings  of 
Norway,  four  of  Ireland,  and  one  of  France,  were  believed 
to  be  buried  here  with  abbots  and  monks,  chiefs  and  chief- 
tains, most  notable  of  whom  we  recall  the  "gentle  Duncan  " 
at  peace  in 

"  The  sacred  storehouse  of  his  predecessors 
And  guardian  of  their  bones." 

The  "Chief  of  Ulva's  Isle"  and  the  "Lord  of  the  Isles" 
also  lie  here.  Close  by  is  the  broken  cross  of  Abbot 
McKinnen,  its  interlaced  carving  a  wonderful  proof  of 
the  freedom  of  execution  and  intricacy  of  design  displayed 


4 


IONA 


by  these  craftsmen  of  bygone  days.  The  fashion  of  erecting 
a  cross  over  every  spot  of  interest  left  over  360  crosses  on 
Iona,  but  all  have  disappeared  save  Maclean's  Cross  and 
St.  Martin's  Cross,  with  several  others  more  or  less  entire. 
St.  Martin's  or  the  Cross  of  Christendom  is  the  most  perfect 
stone  cross  in  existence — a  solid  slab  of  mica  schist,  14  feet 
high,  18  inches  broad,  and  10  inches  thick — fixed  in  a 
massive  block  of  red  granite  three  feet  above  the  ground. 
Nothing  in  Christian  art  so  indelibly  impresses  one  as  this 
grand  and  lonely  cross,  sentinel  over  the  mouldering  dust 
of  the  long  dead  past,  a  memory  of  St.  Martin  of  the  fourth 
century,  himself  a  friend  of  the  good  St.  Ninian,  and  both 
alike  revered  by  St.  Columba.  Between  this  cross  and  the 
Cathedral  doorway  are  two  stone  coffins,  said  to  belong  to 
Columba  and  his  faithful  Diarmid,  and  near  these  is  a  solid 
granite  basin,  used  for  washing  the  feet  before  entering  the 
sanctuary.  A  stone,  marked  with  a  cross,  is  also  pointed 
out  as  Columba's  pillow. 

The  Cathedral,  of  the  usual  cruciform  shape,  dates  from 
the  twelfth  to  the  late  fifteenth  century.  Its  tower  of  "four 
sides  to  every  wind  that  blows  "  has  two  particularly  fine 
windows,  one  a  perforated  quatrefoil,  the  other  a  marigold 
or  Catherine-wheel  window.  The  carvings  on  the  capitals 
of  the  pillars  are  wonderfully  fine,  even  though  sadly 
defaced  by  the  heavy  hand  of  Time. 

In  ecclesiastical  polity  the  Church  here  has  recognised 
many  changes.  Abbot  Duncan,  last  of  the  Columban  order, 
died  in  1099  ;  then  the  Bishop  of  Drontheim  held  supre- 
macy over  the  Diocese  of  Man  and  the  Isles' till  1156.  In 
1 164,  Skene  tells  us,  the  Culdees  were  in  possession,  be- 
cause the  "  mighty  Somerled "  had  restored  the  Monastery 
to  the  Abbot  of  Derry  ;  and  then  in  1208,  Reginald,  his  heir, 
established  the  Benedictine  Monks  and  also  placed  his  sister 
Beatrice  as  Prioress  in  the  newly  built  Nunnery.  The 
Bishop  of  Man  and  the  Isles  again  held  supremacy  till  143 1  ; 
then  lona  came  under  the  sway  of  Dunkeld,  and  afterwards 
under  that  of  St.  Andrews,  and  in  1506,  when  James  IV.  sat 


By  permission  of]  [Mew:  Valentine,  Dundee. 

67.  Martin's  Cross. 

To  /ait  fagf  4. 


IOXA 


5 


upon  the  throne,  Iona  was  finally  restored  to  the  Diocese  of 
the  Isles,  and  its  church  made  the  Cathedral  of  the  Diocese. 
Charles  I.  granted  the  island  to  the  Marquis  of  Argyll  in 
1648,  and  his  descendant,  the  late  Duke  of  Argyll,  returned 
it  to  the  care  of  the  Church  in  1899,  encouraged  to  do  so  by 
the  public  worship  and  services  held  on  the  occasion  of 
Saint  Columba's  thirteenth  centenary  in  1897. 

Scotland  has  recovered  from  the  fright  which  produced 
the  Reformation  ;  she  no  longer  considers  that  a  beautiful 
church,  a  reverent  ritual,  must  of  necessity  be  the  symbols 
of  Popery  ;  so  that  everywhere  throughout  her  borders 
churches  are  being  restored,  and  a  love  for  worship,  con- 
ducted reverently  and  in  order,  inculcated.  But  until 
1897  no  public  recognition  of  the  blessings  inherited  from 
the  Saints  of  the  early  Church  had  been  accorded.  It  was  a 
happy  thought  that  led  to  the  celebration  of  Columba's 
centenary  on  Iona  during  the  Session  of  the  General 
Assembly.  Simple  but  most  effective  were  the  preparations 
for  this  national  gathering  of  representative  clergy  and  lay- 
men. A  canvas  roof  was  stretched  over  the  Cathedral,  the 
rank  grass  was  cut,  and  chairs  for  over  three  hundred 
worshippers  were  placed  on  Nature's  carpet  of  soft  turf ;  a 
pulpit  was  erected  where  formerly  stood  the  High  Altar  of 
the  good  Queen  Margaret's  dedication,  and  by  its  side,  in 
central  position,  stood  the  Communion  Table  with  fair 
white  cloth.  Everything  seemed  so  appropriate,  so  church- 
like, that  a  general  feeling  prevailed  that  very  little  need  be 
done  to  make  those  hallowed  walls  fit  for  permanent  worship. 
In  the  opening  services,  Gaelic  was  used  by  those  dignitaries 
of  the  Scottish  Church  who  are  familiar  with  the  Celtic 
tongue.  Thus,  over  the  dust  of  those  warrior  Macleods  and 
Macleans  of  fierce  memory,  was  preached  the  gospel  of  love 
and  goodwill  by  their  peace-abiding  descendants.  Yet  in 
spite  of  their  simplicity,  nowhere  else  in  Britain,  in  that 
momentous  year,  were  heard  more  impressive  services.  The 
commemorators  of  St.  Augustine's  landing  did  not  excel, 
even  in  their  magnificent  Gregorian  strains,  the  singing  of 


6 


IOXA 


the  eighty-fourth  Psalm — the  greeting  between  St.  Columba 
and  St.  Kentigern.  Its  wailing  minor  tones,  the  very  un- 
familiarity  of  its  language — "  soft  as  the  speech  of  streams 
from  rugged  mountains,  wild  as  that  of  the  winds  in  the  tops 
of  fir-trees,  the  language  at  once  of  bards  and  of  fighting 
men  " — all  helped  to  swell  the  effect  upon  the  Lowland  or 
English  visitor  as  he  gazed  through  open  doorway  and 
unglazed  window,  and  also  heard  the  voices  of  the  birds  as 
they  filled  up  every  gap  in  the  melody  created  by  this  gather- 
ing which  disturbed  their  abiding  place  around  the  ancient 
altars.  How  liquid  and  smooth-flowing  sounded  that  story 
of  the  birds  :  "  Fhuair  eadhon  an  ghealbhoun  tigh,  agus  an 
gobhlan-gaoithe  nead  dhi  fein,  annsan  cuireadh  i  a  h-alach  ; 
t'altairean-sa,  a  Thighearna  nan  slogh,  mo  Dhia,  agus  mo 
Righ."  The  swallow  and  the  sparrow  and  many  another 
feathered  singer  of  the  heavens  had  kept  up  the  worship  of 
praise  for  centuries  and  ours  was  but  an  interlude  ;  let  us 
have  faith  that  it  may  yet  prove  to  have  been  a  prelude.  St. 
Columba's  last  act  was  to  copy  out  the  thirty-fourth  Psalm, 
and  it  appropriately  formed  the  subject  of  the  anthem. 
Then  the  sermon,  from'  the  text,  "  Put  off  thy  shoes  from 
off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy 
ground,"  gave  rapid  sketch  of  Columba's  life  with  incisive 
application  to  the  story  of  our  modern  conditions.  The 
preacher  pointed  out  that  not  the  Christianity  of  Scotland 
alone,  but  that  of  England,  owns  the  influence  of  this  first 
great  Irish  missionary,  whose  name  is  known  and  loved  to 
this  day  in  lonely  islets,  in  wild  Highland  glens,  in  cities 
and  in  villages,  as  the  founder  of  churches,  the  apostle  of 
nations,  the  bringer  of  light  and  love  and  the  gospel  to  the 
wild  tribes  of  the  north,  and  whose  disciples  and  successors 
made  so  deep  an  impression  on  the  heathen  Saxons  and 
Angles  of  Northumbria,  that  under  the  power  of  their  intense 
spiritual  zeal,  it  became  in  its  turn  a  centre  of  Christian 
missions  for  the  rest  of  England. 

We  cannot  roll  back  the  years,  yet  no  need  to  scout 
the  idea  that  the  twentieth  century  can  learn  aught  from 


IOXA 


the  sixth  century.  No  need  either  to  discount  the  im- 
portance of  Augustine's  mission,  which  founded  the  Latin 
Church  as  Columba's  life  closed.  Augustine's  mission  rose 
above  the  level  of  ecclesiasticism  ;  it  brought  into  a  great 
commonwealth  the  Western  peoples  and  gave  to  them  an 
organised  authority  which,  if  imperfect,  was  none  the  less 
the  greatest  civilising  power  of  barbarous  and  brutal  times. 
"  The  loss  of  the  old  Celtic  independence  in  religion  which 
eventually  followed  was  the  first  necessary  step  in  the 
advance  from  Celtic  barbarism."  From  that  day  to  this, 
devoted  men,  inheritors  of  the  great  Columba's  zeal,  have 
preached  "  the  faith  of  our  fathers."  They  and  they  only 
speak  his  language,  they  labour  in  the  same  field,  they 
carry  to  his  own  people  his  message  of  love  and  of  life's 
duty  nobly  done,  and  with  such  an  inheritance  they  need 
not  to  trouble  over  the  doctrine  of  Apostolic  succession. 

As  before  said,  the  ruins  have  been  gifted  to  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  and  ere  long  may  be  restored  for  service  and 
worship.  Would  that  some  generous  member  of  the  kirk 
might  feel  impelled  to  start  the  good  work  !  The  donor,  who 
in  life  proved  how  close  the  story  of  the  Island  was  to  his 
heart,  writes  of  it  :  "  Its  history  touches  an  immense 
variety  of  interests,  the  migration  of  races,  the  rise  of  nations, 
the  conquests  of  Christianity,  the  developments  of  belief." 

Another  and  less  partial  critic,  Samuel  Johnson,  severe 
judge  of  many  things  Scottish,  says  :  "That  man  is  little  to 
be  envied  whose  piety  would  not  grow  warmer  among  the 
ruins  of  Iona." 

The  attraction  is  irresistible,  the  impression  never  to  be  for- 
gotten, and  one  finds  it  very  hard  indeed  to  say  even  An  revoir 
to  Iona.  Standing  on  the  grassy  mound  close  by  the  simple 
pier  one  can  look  across  to  the  softened  beauty  of  Mull  and 
picture  vividly  a  scene  from  the  past — the  rough  boats  and 
the  galleys  coming  up  the  rocky  sound,  "  their  dark  freight 
a  vanished  life" — whilst  a  solemn  procession  of  monks, 
chanting  dirges,  winds  down  the  route  marked  by  crosses  to 
meet  those  bearers  of  the  dead.    On  this  very  mound  the 


8 


IOXA 


body  was  laid,  whilst  psalms  were  sung  and  prayers  chanted 
over  it  for  three  days  and  nights,  before  the  last  rites  were 
performed  in  the  Reilig  Odhrain.  The  ruins  are  venerable, 
yet  yield  in  interest  to  these  graves,  the  everlasting  token  to 
us  of  the  reverence  felt  for  Iona  by  successive  generations 
of  our  forefathers.  A  proof,  too,  that  bloody  chief  and  cruel 
warrior,  who  in  life  practised  that  "  might  was  right,"  hoped 
in  death  to  expiate  their  sins  by  being  buried  in  the  soil 
which  the  saintly  Columba  had  trod.  May  the  Saint's 
prophecy  be  fulfilled  in  our  day  ! 


An  I  mo  chridhe,  I  mo  graidh 
An  aite  guth  manaich  bid  gheum  ba  ; 
Ach  mun  tig  an  saoghal  gu  crich 
Bithidh  I  mar  a  bha." 


In  Iona  of  my  heart,  Iona  of  my  love, 
Instead  of  monk's  voice  shall  be  lowing  of  kine ; 
But  ere  the  world  comes  to  an  end 
Shall  be  Iona  as  it  was." 


GLASGOW 


St.  Muxgo. 

St.  Kextigerx.  Refouxded 

543A.D.  HI5  A.D. 

"  Here  the  Cross  was  planted,  and  here  was  ground  blessed  for 
Christian  burial  by  a  Christian  bishop,  while  Iona  was  yet  an  unknown 
island  among  the  Western  waves,  while  the  promontory  of  St.  Andrews 
was  the  haunt  of  the  wild  boar  and  the  sea-mew,  and  only  the  smoke  of 
a  few  heathen  wigwams  ascended  from  the  rock  of  Edinburgh.  The 
ground  which  St.  Xinian  hallowed  and  St.  Kentigern  chose  for  the  seat 
of  his  religion  was  honoured  also  by  the  footsteps  of  St.  Columba,  who 
came  hither  in  pilgrimage  from  his  island  monastery,  singing  hymns  in 
honour  of  the  Apostle  of  Strathclyde." 

SO  writes  Dr.  Joseph  Robertson  of  the  beginnings  of 
Christian  life  and  work  in  Glasgow  whose  Cathedral 
of  St.  Mungo  stands  by  far  the  fairest  and  finest  of 
Scotland's  churches,  admired  alike  by  native  Briton 
and  foreign  tourist. 

The  devastations  of  the  Reformation  period  left  no 
permanent  injury  on  its  architecture,  and  in  this  respect 
its  record  is  unique  on  the  Mainland.  St.  Magnus,  its  sister 
in  similar  good  fortune,  points  for  us  the  story  of  warriors 
and  statesmen  in  the  making  of  the  nation.  In  excellent 
contrast,  we  turn  to  find  in  Glasgow  the  influence  of  the 
churchman  and  the  ecclesiastic  as  founders  of  the  city  and 
advisers  of  our  Scottish  kings. 

No  need  therefore  for  prolonged  detail  of  Nave,  Choir, 
Transepts,  Lady  Chapel,  Chapter  House,  and  the  beautiful 
Lower  Church,  commonly  called  the  Crypts ;  we  see  them 
9 


GLASGOW 


now  as  they  have  ever  been — a  beautiful  house  of  worship 
to  the  glory  of  God — the  very  source  and  centre  of  Glasgow, 
from  which  she  derives  City  Seal  and  Arms  and  her  now 
curtailed  motto,  "  Let  Glasgow  flourish  "  (by  the  preaching 
of  the  Word). 

St.  Mungo  is  in  one  sense  a  misnomer.  St.  Kentigern 
were  more  correct  title  ;  and  yet,  after  a  period  of  thirteen 
centuries,  is  it  not  as  wisdom  for  us  to  realise  the  vitality  of 
good  deeds — a  more  enduring  monument  than  hewn  marble? 
Every  time  our  lips  frame  the  name  of  Mungo  we  perpetuate 
the  beauty  of  Kentigern's  character  and  life  as  "well-beloved" 
saint.  In  his  story  we  have  the  story  of  early  Glasgow,  and 
as  briefly  as  possible  we  should  recall  a  few  facts  concerning 
him  before  descending  into  the  Lower  Church  to  visit  his 
shrine,  from  which  radiating  centre  the  Cathedral  has  been 
developed. 

What  a  gap  in  English  literature,  what  a  blow  to  national 
standards  of  idealism  would  befall  us,  were  the  Arthurian 
Legends  to  be  spirited  out  of  our  mental  vision  !  Though 
vague  in  definition  and  shadowy  in  facts,  neither  materialism 
nor  realism  can  ever  satisfy  us  as  do  these  tales  of  the  hero 
of  heroes  who  lived  during  "  the  two  lost  centuries  "  of 
History.  To  that  same  period  Kentigern  belonged,  and 
beautiful  exceedingly  are  the  traditions  of  his  life.  Like 
St.  David  of  Wales,  he  was  of  princely  birth  ;  his  reputed 
father,  Eugenius  III.,  was  the  forty-sixth  king  of  Scots, 
better  known  as  Ewen  of  Cambria,  and  his  mother,  Thenaw, 
a  daughter  of  Loth,  King  of  the  Picts,  a  worshipper  of 
Woden  and  Thor,  whose  name  is  perpetuated  in  our 
Lothians.  His  wife  was  Ann,  a  daughter  of  Uter  Pendragon, 
and  therefore  aunt  of  the  famous  King  Arthur.  All  this  we 
learn  from  Fordun  and  a  Paris  Chronicle  of  1579. 

We  may  here  recall  that  Cambria,  or  Strathclyde,  included 
all  the  country  lying  south  of  the  Firths  of  Forth  and  Clyde, 
and  part  of  Northern  England  ;  also  that  "  the  gentle 
Duncan  "  excited  Macbeth's  ire  by  naming  his  son  Malcolm 
"  Prince  of  Cumbria." 


GLASGOW 


1 1 


Thenavv  became  a  Christian,  and  in  the  enthusiasm  born 
of  her  new  faith  believed  herself  to  be  honoured  as  was  the 
Virgin  Mary.  Her  father,  according  to  the  law  of  his  time, 
was  compelled  to  put  her  to  death,  so  she  was  thrown  from 
a  precipice,  but  miraculously  escaped  unhurt.  Then,  cast 
adrift  in  a  boat  outside  the  Isle  of  May,  a  shoal  of  fishes 
bore  the  skiff  up  the  Forth  to  Culross,  where  St.  Serf,  or 
Servanus,  lived  and  laboured.  There  her  child  was  born, 
and  when  a  shepherd  took  mother  and  child  to  the  cell  of 
the  aged  hermit,  he,  with  prophetic  vision,  greeted  the 
infant — "  Blessed  art  thou  that  comest  in  the  Name  of  the 
Lord,"  and  he  baptised  the  child  and  named  him  Kentigern. 

Then  we  have  a  story  resembling  in  many  points  that  of 
the  youthful  Samuel  and  aged  Eli.  The  boy  grew  in  favour 
and  grace,  and  soon  Munghu,  or  "dear  one,"  became  as 
a  second  name.  St.  Serf  had  a  favourite  robin  redbreast, 
mischievous  boys  pulled  its  head  off,  but  Munghu  put  body 
and  head  together  and  it  flew  joyously  to  the  aged  Saint. 
The  "  Monastery "  lamp  before  the  altar  was  maliciously 
extinguished  at  midnight  ;  Munghu  pulled  a  frozen  branch 
off  a  hazel  tree  and  blew  on  it  so  that  it  leaped  into  flame. 
Many  other  miracles  are  recorded  ;  these  two  are  necessary 
to  knowledge  in  connection  with  the  city's  coat  of  arms. 

This  monastery  was  situated  on  an  island  in  Loch  Leven. 
It  afterwards  became  a  great  centre  of  the  Culdees,  and  one 
of  the  few  early  records  extant  tells  of  a  gift  of  land  to  this 
monastery  of  St.  Servanus  from  Macbeth  and  his  wife,  the 
Lady  Gruoch — although  Dr.  Skene  disputes  by  chronology 
that  Mungo's  St.  Serf  and  the  later  Hermit  of  Loch  Leven 
were  one  and  the  same. 

Kentigern  was  twenty-five  years  old  when  the  call  came 
for  him  to  go  forth  to  preach.  He  reached  the  shores  of 
the  Forth  which  like  the  Red  Sea  was  opened  up  for  his 
passage,  crossed  to  the  southern  bank,  invoking  the  blessing 
of  Heaven  on  his  aged  guardian  who  in  vain  begged  him 
to  return.  He  journeyed  on  and  reached  Kernach  (possibly 
Carnwath),  and  there  met  the  aged  hermit  Fergus  who,  as 


GLASGOW 


if  inspired,  recited  the  Nunc  Dimittis  and  then  immediately 
died.  Kentigern  spent  the  night  in  prayer,  and  in  the 
morning  yoked  two  wild  bulls  to  a  cart,  on  which  he  placed 
the  old  man's  body,  resolving  to  follow  wherever  they  should 
lead.  No  details  are  given  of  this  journey  which  ultimately 
ended  at  Deschu  or  Cathures  (for  both  names  appear)  on  the 
banks  of  the  Molendinar  (now  a  covered  sewer).  Here  he 
found  a  primitive  church  built  by  St.  Ninian,  also  a  cemetery 
in  which  was  buried  the  body  of  Fergus. 

On  a  stone  over  the  entrance  to  the  Blackadder  Crypt  we 
may  see  in  Saxon  lettering,  "This  is  ye  ile  of  Car  Fergus," 
so  we  naturally  infer  that  the  Crypt  now  covers  the  place  of 
Ninian's  Cemetery. 

Kentigern  was  now  back  in  his  father's  land  of  Cambria 
or  Strathclyde,  and  by  request  of  its  king  and  people  he 
remained  with  them,  and  was  consecrated  as  a  bishop  by 
one  who  came  specially  from  Ireland  for  this  purpose.  We 
next  read  of  his  incurring  the  hatred  of  King  Marken.  In 
primitive  communities  there  seems  to  have  existed  between 
the  Saint  and  the  Wizard  that  same  intangible  line  which 
we  now  recognise  as  dividing  genius  from  insanity.  When 
the  King  died  from  acute  gout  in  the  same  foot  which  had 
on  occasion  kicked  St.  Mungo,  his  queen  and  courtiers 
pronounced  the  Saint  a  wizard  and  clamoured  for  his  life. 
He  fled  to  Wales,  and  with  St.  David  (his  relative)  found 
shelter  and  communion  for  a  time. 

Again  a  wild  beast  served  as  guide  to  new  abiding  place, 
where  he  founded  "a  college"  and  gathered  around  him 
many  followers.  Chief  of  these  was  Asaph,  who  succeeded 
him  in  its  directorate — the  St.  Asaph's  of  North  Wales.  Our 
Scottish  St.  Mungo  is  therefore  Kindeyrn  Garthwys  to  the 
Welsh. 

The  new  king  of  Strathclyde,  Rhydderch  or  Roderick, 
having  been  baptised  by  St.  Patrick,  sent  messengers 
imploring  Mungo  to  return  to  Glasgow.  Then'  we  have  the 
second  series  of  miracles  now  commemorated  in  the  City 
Arms.     Queen  Langueth  had  given  the  King's  ring  to  a 


13 


soldier  lover.  He  one  day  fell  asleep,  and  as  the  King  passed 
by,  he  recognised  -his  own  ring,  pulled  it  off,  and  threw  it 
into  the  river.  Then,  sending  for  the  Queen,  he  demanded 
the  return  of  his  pledge,  and  she  in  great  distress  appealed  to 
St.  Mungo.  He  ordered  a  fishing-line  to  be  cast  into  the 
Clyde  ;  a  salmon  was  hooked  and  caught,  and  in  its  stomach 
the  veritable  ring  was  found.  The  Queen's  life  was  saved, 
and  Mungo's  power  thus  established  in  the  royal  house. 

Tradition  tells  that  St.  Mungo  visited  Rome  seven  times, 
and  on  one  of  these  occasions  brought  back  a  consecrated 
bell — square,  as  were  all  Celtic  bells— and  that  it  hung  on  a 
tree.  This  bell  was  in  use  as  a  death  bell  till  1661,  when  it 
disappeared.  The  bird,  the  branch,  the  ring,  the  fish,  the 
bell,  the  motto — all  are  attributed  to  St.  Kentigern  !  although 
in  Genoa  we  find  a  very  similar  rhyme  to — 

"  The  bird  that  never  flew, 
The  fish  that  never  swam, 
The  tree  that  never  grew. 
The  bell  that  never  rang." 

Most  important  in  Church  history  was  St.  Columba's  visit 
to  Kentigern,  their  affectionate  greeting,  their  chanting  of 
the  psalms  and  at  final  parting  their  exchange  of  staves. 
For  many  centuries  one  of  the  treasures  of  St.  Wilfrid's 
Church  in  Ripon  was  Mungo's  staff,  carried  into  Northern 
England  by  one  of  the  family  of  Iona. 

Columba  returned  to  Iona  and  died  in  597  A.D.  Mungo 
lived  on  to  603  A.D.,  and  in  his  old  age  "  visited  Orkney, 
Norway,  and  Iceland."  St.  Thenaw,  his  mother,  lived  near 
him,  and  in  St.  Enoch  we  commemorate  her  name. 

In  a  vision  on  his  death-bed,  an  angel  directed  that 
Mungo's  body  be  placed  in  a  warm  bath  so  that  his  spirit 
might  thereby  depart  easily.  Those  of  his  followers  who 
wished  to  join  him  were  also  advised  to  place  themselves  in 
the  bath  after  the  removal  of  the  Saint's  body,  and,  as  many 
availed  themselves  thereof,  this  may  in  part  explain  the 
tradition  "  that  665  Saints  were  laid  to  rest  around  him." 


14 


GLASGOW 


"  Diligently  and  most  devoutly,  as  the  custom  of  the  Church 
at  that  time  required,  they  celebrated  his  obsequies,  and  on 
the  right  side  of  the  Altar  they  laid  beneath  a  stone  with 
as  much  becoming  reverence  as  they  could,  that  home  of 
the  virtues,  that  precious  stone  by  whose  merit,  as  it  was  a 
time  for  collecting  stones  for  the  edifice  of  the  Heavenly 
Temple,  many  elect  and  lovely  stones,  along  with  that  pearl, 
were  taken  up  and  laid  in  the  treasury  of  the  great  King." 
Then  around  his  tomb  the  miracles  of  his  life  were  per- 
petuated— the  blind,  the  deaf,  the  halt,  the  maimed,  the  leper, 
and  the  lunatic  found  health  and  healing,  whilst  the  pro- 
faner,  the  impious,  and  the  sacrilegious  were  unmasked  and 
punished. 

We  may  believe  as  much  or  as  little  as  we  please  of 
Kentigern's  miraculous  powers,  but  certainly  their  similarity 
to  those  recorded  in  Scripture  is  both  striking  and  sug- 
gestive, and  as  we  stand  by  the  place  of  his  tomb  in  the 
Crypt,  we  must  feel  that  Mungo  was  a  pure  and  bright  light 
in  a  far-off  age  of  darkness.  In  the  mediaeval  Church  his 
name  was  specially  revered,  his  festival  joyously  observed. 
Many  hymns  were  composed  in  his  honour,  and  from  the 
Aberdeen  Breviary,  and  famed  Arbuthnot  Missal  (now  in 
Paisley  Museum)  we  select  two  couplets  indicative  of  the 
position  accorded  to  him — 

"  Through  thee,  great  prelate,  son  of  royal  line, 
Lothian  and  Cambria  with  new  honours  shine." 

"  And  Scotia  is  converted  to  the  faith  divine 
Through  thee,  Glory,  through  thee." 

Scotland  never  forgets  how  much  she  owes  to  her  early 
Celtic  saints,  to  their  "  Colleges  and  Monasteries,"  to  their 
simplicity  of  doctrine  and  ritual.  Glasgow,  second  city  of 
the  Empire,  first  in  progress,  owes  everything  to  Mungo's 
sweet  memory,  which  inspired  Prince  David  to  found  her 
cathedral  and  diocese  five  centuries  after  the  Saint's  death. 
To  his  successors  of  the  Latin  Church  she  owes  her  special 


GLASGOW 


municipal  privileges  and  her  University,  so  that  the  words 
of  the  ancient  hymn  have  been  actually  fulfilled — 

"In  him  be  joyful,  Glasgow  chiefly 
Thy  fortunes  he'll  raise  high  briefly." 

PR E-RE FORMATION  CHURCH. 

St.  Mungo  was  said  to  have  been  succeeded  by  St.  Baldred, 
a  name  familiar  in  North  Berwick,  and  then  there  is  a  long 
suggestive  silence,  denoting  without  doubt  a  relapse  into 
paganism. 

David,  Prince  of  Cambria,  the  worthy  "  Sair  Sanct,"  is 
next  upon  the  scene  ;  and  he,  recalling  Mungo's  work  and 
the  "  savour  of  that  sweet  smelling  tree  out  of  filthy 
ground,"  appealed,  on  behalf  of  his  favourite  tutor — John 
Achaius — to  Pope  Paschall  II.  John  was  consecrated  in 
Rome  about  1 1 15,  and  sent  home  to  Scotland  to  found  a 
diocese.  His  sojourn  was  but  short  however  since  he  fled 
a  pilgrim  to  the  Holy  Land,  in  actual  terror  of  his  life  from 
the  wild  men  of  Strathclyde,  and  only  by  compulsion  did 
he  return. 

The  cemetery — ever  most  sacred  of  all  sacred  places  in 
Celtic  sentiment — with  a  tall  cross  and  a  few  old  trees  were 
all  that  remained  of  St.  Mungo's  relics. 

About  1 1 24,  Bishop  John  commenced  his  new  cathedral  ; 
in  1 136  it  was  consecrated  in  the  presence  of  King  David 
and  his  court,  and  in  1192  we  read  of  its  being  burned  to 
the  ground.  In  the  interim,  however,  there  was  much 
making  of  history  :  lands  had  been  given  to  the  see  ;  King 
David  had  been  succeeded  by  Malcolm  IV.,  who  in  a  charter 
greeting  "Normans,  Saxons,  Scots,  Welsh,  and  Picts," 
commands  these  same  to  pay  full  tithes  of  produce  and 
cattle.  Glasgow  was  rising  into  such  note  that  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York  claimed  its  allegiance,  but  was  successfully 
resisted  ;  and  in  1174,  Joceline,  the  fourth  bishop,  was  con- 
secrated. His  is  a  name  to  be  remembered  and  honoured. 
As  prime  favourite  of  William  the  Lion,  he  obtained  from 


1 6 


GLASGOW 


this  king,  in  1180,  a  charter  which  transformed  the  village 
into  the  burgh  of  Glasgow,  with  power  to  hold  a  weekly 
market  every  Thursday.  A  second  charter  granted  absolute 
protection  to  all  who  attended  these  markets  ;  and  still  a 
third  makes  us  clearly  realise  social  life  and  conditions  in 
Scotland  during  the  twelfth  century — the  King  gave  to  his 
Bishop  "  Gillemachoy  de  Conglud,  with  his  children  and 
all  their  descendants  as  serfs." 

In  return  for  these  and  other  favours,  Joceline  went  in 
1 182  to  Rome  and  obtained  from  Pope  Lucius  III.  exemp- 
tion from  all  censure  for  his  royal  master.  Joceline  was 
essentially  a  man  of  energy.  In  1197  a  new  church  was 
consecrated,  that  beautiful  crypt  now  bearing  his  name,  in 
which  a  tomb  and  high  altar  were  erected  to  St.  Kentigern. 
One  of  the  earliest  votive  offerings  on  record  is  "  a  stone 
of  wax  yearly  to  make  candles  for  the  daily  mass  on  this 
Altar." 

Most  interesting  is  the  story  of  the  Guild  or  Fraternity, 
sanctioned  by  royal  letters,  to  collect  money  for  this  new 
church,  which  the  King  described  as  follows  :  "  Though  it 
be  poor  and  lowly  in  temporal  state,  is  the  spiritual  mother 
of  many  tribes."  We  regard  successful  biography  as  one 
of  the  later  developments  in  literature.  In  order  to  raise 
money,  Bishop  Joceline  engaged  Brother  Joceline  of 
Furness  to  write  of  The  Life  and  Miracles  of  St.  Kentigern, 
and  he  did  his  work  so  well  that  we  might  fitly  rank  him 
as  Boswell's  peer.  He  certainly  stops  short  at  nothing 
likely  to  advance  the  importance  of  Mungo  and  his  church. 
The  story  of  miracles  and  other  details  already  referred  to, 
in  connection  with  the  Saint,  are  culled  from  this  book 
(still  extant),  although  we  know  that  the  facts  may  have 
been  enlarged  upon  from  an  older  MS.  life,  now  lost. 

During  the  octave  of  Peter  and  Paul  in  1197  a  great 
Dedication  Feast  took  place,  with  a  fair  of  eight  days' 
duration.  Not  a  working  man  or  woman  in  Glasgow  now 
but  looks  forward  to  "the  Fair  Holiday"  in  July,  though 
comparatively  few  may  know  how  and  when  its  privileges 


GLASGOW 


17 


were  first  granted.  Two  years  later,  the  good  Bishop 
Joceline  died,  and  not  until  1220  have  we  another  record 
of  note. 

Bishop  Walter  then  obtained  exemption  from  toll  and 
custom,  levied  on  his  people,  by  the  towns  of  Rutherglen 
and  Dumbarton — mere  villages  now  in  comparison  with  the 
second  city  in  the  Empire.  Bishop  Bondington  succeeded 
in  1233,  and  in  1242,  the  Council  of  clergy,  at  Perth, 
granted  indulgences  for  all  who  gave  or  raised  money 
towards  the  building  of  Glasgow  Cathedral.  From  these 
moneys,  the  fine  Choir  was  built  and  finished  in  1258. 
This  Bishop  also  introduced  the  Ritual  of  Sarum.  The 
next  dignitary  of  note  earned  national  fame — Robert 
Wishart,  "well-beloved  bishop"  of  Robert  the  Bruce. 
When  King  Alexander  III.  died  in  1286,  Wishart  was 
appointed  one  of  the  Lords  of  Regency,  and  at  Xorham 
Castle  dared  to  remind  Edward  I.  of  England  that,  as  a 
prince  of  wisdom  and  integrity,  the  Scots  had  desired  his 
advice,  but  they  also  denied  his  right  to  dictate  terms  to 
them  as  "Overlord." 

The  Central  Tower  and  the  Transepts  were  presumably 
built  about  this  time,  as  in  1277,  record  tells  of  the  Chapter's 
privileges  to  cut  timber  on  the  banks  of  Luss  "  for  the 
fabric  of  their  steeple  and  treasury."  In  1291  also,  "the 
warlike  "  Bishop  begged  timber  for  the  spire  of  his  Cathe- 
dral from  English  Edward,  and  he,  as  a  good  churchman 
who  had  bowed  before  its  altar,  granted  one  hundred  oaks, 
and  also  twenty  stags  for  the  Bishop's  own  use.  Alas  !  the 
prelate  ate  the  venison  and  made  "  catapults  and  engines  " 
from  the  wood  to  besiege  the  garrisons  of  the  royal  donor — 
truly  "a  pestilent  priest."  In  vain  Pope  Boniface  reproved 
his  contumacy  and  ordered  him  to  seek  repentance  and 
forgiveness.  He  was  a  Scot  first,  a  son  of  Rome  second, 
and  preached  that  it  were  better  far  to  fight  with  Robert 
Bruce  for  the  independence  of  Scotland  than  to  go  as  a 
crusader  to  meet  a  Saracen  foe.  We  Scots  all  feel  proud 
that  Scotland  was  never  a  conquered  country ;  let  us 
3 


[8 


GLASGOW 


gratefully  acknowledge  Bishop  Wishart's  share  in  this 
honourable  achievement.  He  not  only  absolved  his  hero 
for  the  murder  of  Comyn,  but  from  his  own  wardrobe 
of  vestments  prepared  robes  for  Bruce's  coronation  at 
Scone  in  1306.  In  that  same  year  he  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  English,  became  blind  during  his  captivity,  and 
not  until  prisoners  were  exchanged  after  Bannockburn 
was  fought  and  won  in  13 14,  was  Bruce  able  to  greet 
his  loyal  friend.  Only  two  years  more  of  life  and  liberty 
were  granted  him,  and  in  these  years  he  was  associated 
with  Fordun  in  the  compilation  of  the  national  Chronicles. 
One  looks  in  vain  around  the  building  for  some  visible 
memorial  to  this  patriotic  Scot.  Many  a  man  of  less 
glorious  record  has  lived  on  to  fame — his  deeds  per- 
petuated to  later  generations  in  bronze  or  marble  tablet. 

In  1400,  the  Steeple,  whether  finished  or  unfinished,  was 
struck  by  lightning  but  Bishop  Lauder  (1408-25)  replaced 
it  in  stone,  and  set  his  arms  on  its  parapet.  Lauder's  Crypt, 
below  the  Chapter  House,  was  also  his  work,  left  unfinished 
for  Bishop  Cameron's  advent  at  the  very  zenith  of  Church 
glory.  The  "  Magnificent  Bishop  "  built  the  Chapter  House, 
and  on  the  central  pillar,  supporting  its  beautiful  groined 
roof,  carved  his  arms  as  a  scion  of  Lochiel's  ancient 
clan.  In  his  day,  pomp  and  punctiliousness  marked  every 
ceremony,  the  great  Church  festivals  were  gorgeously 
observed,  the  streets  were  filled  with  processions  of 
choristers  and  priests  carrying  crucifixes,  banners,  and 
candles  to  the  chanting  of  Te  Dennis,  while  flowers,  in- 
cense, and  vestments  added  to  the  unwonted  brilliancy  of 
the  scene.  Money  was  freely  spent  on  his  episcopal  palace, 
and  the  lists  of  costly  treasures  and  relics  under  his  care 
tell  of  Bishop  Cameron's  love  for  ceremonious  display. 

Although  in  the  Cathedral  itself,  we  can  only  attribute  the 
roof  of  the  north  aisle  to  Bishop  Turnbull,  to  him  we  owe 
the  foundation  of  a  mighty  monument  not  made  with  hands, 
and  for  this  his  name  is  revered  beyond  all  others.  In  1450 
he  obtained  from  Pope  Nicholas  II.  a  Bull  authorising  a 


GLASGOW 


19 


Studium  Generate  to  be  opened,  the  beginning  of  the 
University,  whose  ninth  jubilee  has  so  recently  been 
celebrated.  For  many  years  the  clergy  of  the  Cathedral 
were  its  chief  supporters,  and  its  handful  of  students  met 
to  be  taught  in  the  Lower  Church.  James  II.  truly  wished 
that  his  Alma  Universitas  might  prosper,  but  King  James 
was  but  a  little  less  impecunious  than  were  the  great 
majority  of  his  subjects.  He,  however,  granted  a  charter 
to  the  good  Bishop,  erecting  the  burgh  into  a  burgh  of 
regality  with  its  special  privileges. 

Bishop  Blackadder  is  the  next  of  note.  He  built  the  fine 
rood  screen  with  its  quaintly  grotesque  carvings,  also  the 
altarages  in  front  thereof.  The  great  stair  leading  to  the 
Lower  Church  was  also  his  work,  and  we  may  claim  that 
the  whole  effect  is  but  rarely  equalled  and  not  surpassed 
elsewhere  in  Britain.  Archaeologist  and  architect  alike  find 
much  to  admire  in  its  detail.  He  also  wished  to  extend  the 
South  Transept,  but  only  its  undercroft  was  finished — that 
which  we  Call  Blackadder's  crypt.  It  formed  a  beautiful 
and  appropriate  close  to  the  building,  which,  begun  in  11 24, 
was  carried  on  until  his  death  in  1508,  and  which  gave  rise 
to  the  saying — 

"  Like  St.  Mungo's  work  it  will  never  be  finished." 

During  Blackadder's  rule,  the  Diocese  was  converted  into 
the  See  of  an  Archbishop,  and  was  declared  independent  of 
St.  Andrews  by  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  in  1491-92. 

King  James  IV.  who  was  a  Canon  of  Glasgow  and 
therefore  attended  its  Chapters  as  an  active  member,  urged 
the  Pope  for  this  favour  because  "  it  surpasses  the  other 
cathedral  churches  of  my  realm  by  its  structure,  its  learned 
men,  its  foundation,  its  ornaments,  and  other  very  noble 
prerogatives."  The  King  also  sent  its  Archbishop  to  take 
part  in  the  negotiations  for  his  marriage  with  Margaret 
Tudor,  one  of  the  notable  events  of  Scottish  national 
history. 

James  Beaton,  afterwards  the  famous  Cardinal,  came  next 


20 


GLASGOW 


in  succession,  and  after  his  translation  to  St.  Andrews, 
Gavin  Dunbar  ruled.  Lollardism  had  reached  Scotland, 
the  infallibility  of  Rome  was  openly  questioned,  and  the 
smoke  from  two  heretics,  burned  beside  the  church, 
darkened  the  Eastern  windows,  forecast  of  more  gloomy 
days  yet  to  come. 

In  1545,  John  Knox  made  merry  over  a  conflict  for  pre- 
cedence between  Dunbar's  and  Beaton's  followers  at  the 
Cathedral  door — the  beginning  of  the  end.  Dunbar  died 
in  1547,  and  five  years  later,  another  Beaton,  nephew  of 
the  Cardinal,  was  consecrated  to  be  the  last  of  that  long 
line,  of  whom  John  Achaius  was  the  first.  The  fortifica- 
tion of  his  palace  received  more  of  Beaton's  attention  than 
the  Cathedral,  and  to  this  stronghold  he  removed  all  the 
precious  relics  and  jewels,  the  vessels  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  the  valuable  archives  and  charters.  In  1560,  he  fled 
with  these  to  France,  depositing  them  in  the  Scots  College 
and  the  Chartreuse  in  Paris  ;  and  as  he  died  in  1603,  he 
bequeathed  these  national  possessions  to  the  same.  (The 
Maitland  Club  have  published  the  Register  of  Glasgow.) 

The  Reformation  was  accomplished  in  the  land,  and  the 
Cathedral  was  saved  from  the  iconoclasts.  Only  the  lead 
had  been  stripped  from  the  roof;  but  in  1574,  and  again  in 
1579,  the  Provost  and  citizens  taxed  themselves  for  the 
proper  maintenance  of  the  building — to  be  counted  to  them 
for  righteousness.  When  we  read  Andrew  Fairservice's 
graphic  account  of  this  time  in  the  pages  of  Rob  Roy,  we 
realise  that  it  was  verily  a  case  of  "touch  and  go"  with 
the  fate  of  the  Cathedral — so  narrowly  did  it  escape 
destruction.  For  twelve  years  after  the  Reformation  there 
is"  no  record  of  any  meeting  for  worship  in  the  Cathedral, 
it  being  shunned  as  "  a  monument  to  popery,"  and  not 
until  1572  was  praise  again  heard  within  its  walls. 

In  1582,  we  have  a  sad  offset  to  that  former  scene  for 
precedence  which  excited  John  Knox's  ridicule.  The 
Collegians — followers  of  Andrew  Melvil,  first  Principal  of 
the  University,  and  the  supporters  of  Montgomery,  one 


GLASGOW 


21 


of  the  four  "  Tulchan  "  Archbishops — met  in  free  fight,  and 
Howieson,  the  Presbyterian  minister,  was  pulled  out  of  the 
pulpit  by  his  beard,  his  teeth  knocked  out,  and  he  and  his 
sympathisers  cast  into  the  Tolbooth.  We  now  live  in  such 
an  age  of  tolerance  that  we  can  afford  to  smile  at  one  of 
the  serious  charges  brought  against  Montgomery  because 
he  said  that  "  Ministers  were  captious  and  men  of  curious 
brains." 

Beaton,  who  had  been  allowed  to  retain  the  emoluments 
of  his  office,  died  in  1603,  and  was  succeeded  by  Spottis- 
woode,  a  man  of  gentle  birth  who,  as  a  brilliant  student  of 
the  University  of  Glasgow,  graduated  at  the  age  of  sixteen  ; 
succeeded  to  his  father's  pulpit  and  duties  in  1585  ;  and 
ten  years  later,  declared  for  Episcopacy  and  became  one  of 
the  King's  strongest  advisers.  We  know  that  he  repaired 
the  roof  of  the  Cathedral  in  1606,  and  that  in  1615  he  was 
made  Primate  of  Scotland.  His  most  notable  act,  as  Arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews,  was  the  erection  of  the  Collegiate 
church  of  St.  Giles  into  the  Cathedral  church  of  the  Diocese 
of  Edinburgh  in  1633. 

Apostate,  renegade,  traitor — such  names  have  been  applied 
to  this  first  Protestant  Archbishop  of  Glasgow  (if  we  exclude 
the  four  "Tulchans") — let  us  remember  that  he  lived  during 
troublous  and  controversial  times  when  critical  judgments 
(so-called)  were  but  too  often  the  expression  of  personal 
rancour.  (A  record  relative  to  the  Christmas  of  1593  speaks 
volumes  for  us — "  The  Kirk  and  Magistrates  ordered  that 
all  who  attempted  to  keep  Yule  should  lose  all  the  privileges 
of  Kirk  including  marriage.")  Spottiswoode  was  a  man 
gifted  alike  with  intellect  and  ambition,  and  had  he  lived 
in  our  own  times,  would  assuredly  have  earned  and  kept 
his  place  amongst  the  leaders  of  the  day.  His  well-known 
work,  The  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  is  considered  a 
most  valuable  contemporary  record,  and  so  deeply  has  it 
been  appreciated  by  scholars,  that  the  Spottiswoode  Club 
was  instituted  in  Edinburgh  about  a  century  ago,  for  the 
editing  and  publishing  of  all  works  on  Scottish  history  and 


2  2 


GLASGOW 


antiquities.  He  died  in  London  in  1639,  an<^  was  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey. 

In  1638,  the  General  Assembly,  at  its  meeting  in  Glasgow, 
declared  for  Presbyterianism. 

Twelve  years  later  Cromwell  entered  Glasgow,  and  on  the 
following  Sunday  attended  worship  in  the  High  Kirk,  as  it 
was  then  called.  For  three  hours  he  sat,  a  seemingly 
patient  listener  to  the  eloquent  Mr.  Zachary  Boyd,  who,  in 
language  much  more  plain  than  pleasant,  revealed  his 
opinion  of  Cromwell's  character.  Thurlow,  his  secretary, 
became  so  exasperated  that  he  repeatedly  asked  permission 
"  to  pistol  the  scoundrel."  Cromwell  was  a  great  general, 
able  to  make  the  punishment  fit  the  crime  to  perfection. 
He  cordially  invited  Mr.  Boyd  to  sup  with  him  ;  discussed 
and  argued  with  his  guest  on  questions  of  theology;  and 
afterwards  engaged  in  prayer  for  three  long  hours.  Then 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  Mr.  Boyd  was  dismissed 
with  the  Protector's  blessing.  The  chair  in  which  the 
Protector  sat  during  service  is  still  shown,  and  it  was  one 
of  the  attractive  objects  of  interest  in  the  recent  Exhibition. 

Glasgow  rejoiced  at  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  in  1660, 
at  which  date  Episcopacy  was  again  established,  and  seven 
Archbishops  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession.  Of 
these,  Robert  Leighton  spent  four  years  here,  1670-74,  and 
"  his  low  sweet  voice  and  angelic  strains  of  eloquence  and 
devotion  haunted  his  hearers  to  their  dying  day."  The 
story  of  his  life  and  influence  belongs  to  the  Cathedral 
of  Dunblane. 

In  1688,  the  Revolution  brought  in  its  train  the  final 
declaration  for  Presbyterianism  as  the  national  form  of 
religion.  From  that  day  to  this  the  record  has  been  of 
peace,  of  zeal  for  all  that  is  fair  and  of  good  report,  and 
of  an  ever  strengthening  union  between  laymen  and  clergy 
in  their  efforts  for  national  righteousness. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  a  student  of  ecclesiastical  antiquities 
not  to  look  back  with  fond  regret  to  the  lordly  and  ruined 
Church,  which  we  have  traced  from  its  cradle  to  its  grave, 


GLASGOW 


23 


not  stopping  to  question  its  doctrines,  and  throwing  into 
a  friendly  shade  its  errors  of  practice.  And  yet,  if  we 
consider  it  more  deeply,  we  may  be  satisfied  that  the 
gorgeous  fabric  fell  not  till  it  had  completed  its  work,  and 
was  no  longer  useful.  Institutions,  like  mortal  bodies,  die 
and  are  reproduced.  Nations  pass  away,  and  the  worthy 
live  again  in  their  colonies.  Our  own  proud  and  free 
England  may  be  destined  to  sink,  and  to  leave  only  a 
memory  and  those  offshoots  of  her  vigorous  youth  which 
have  spread  civilisation  over  half  the  world.  In  this  view, 
it  was  not  unworthy  of  that  splendid  hierarchy,  which  arose 
out  of  the  humble  family  of  St.  Kentigern,  to  have  given  life 
and  vigour  to  such  a  city  as  Glasgow,  and  a  school  of 
learning  like  her  University." 

Thus  Glasgow  has  truly  flourished  by  the  preaching  of 
the  Word. 

MODERN  IMPROVEMENTS. 

During  the  present  century,  several  changes  for  the  worse 
as  well  as  for  the  better  have  been  made  upon  the  building. 
In  1829,  public  attention  was  called  to  the  dilapidated  con- 
dition of  the  nave,  and  to  the  accumulation  of  rubbish  in 
the  crypts. 

The  Nave,  which  in  the  past  owned  no  man  for  its  builder, 
evidently  belongs  principally  to  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries.  The  Restoration  Committee  set  to  work  vigorously, 
— too  much  so — for  the  two  towers  of  the  western  gable,  which 
were  probably  built  after  the  completion  of  the  nave  and  the 
aisles,  were  cleared  away;  the  south-west  tower  in  1845,  and 
its  north-west  companion,  which  had  formerly  been  used  as 
a  Consistory  Court,  in  1848.  The  great  west  doorway  was 
opened  up,  and  the  fine  west  window  restored.  As  we  stand 
beneath  this  window  we  are  impressed  by  the  seeming  length 
of  the  building,  although  only  283  feet  in  all;  by  the  loftiness 
of  nave  and  choir;  by  the  perspective  of  massive  pillars  with 
deeply  carved  capitals  and  finely  pointed  arches;  by  the 
stately  yet  severely  simple  effect  of  the  whole.    If  the  altars 


24 


have  disappeared,  the  eye  gains  thereby  in  the  uninterrupted 
line  of  architectural  development.  Nowhere  else  in  Britain 
can  one  see  such  perfect  architectural  effect  from  pillared 
vaults  as  in  the  Lower  Church,  and  there  are  but  few  of  the 
greater  cathedrals  on  the  Continent  which  can  approach  the 
same  perfection. 

The  windows  of  the  two  churches,  159  in  all,  present  a 
display  of  stained  glass  unequalled  in  the  country,  and  no 
story  of  St.  Mungo's  Cathedral  can  be  considered  complete 
without  a  brief  sketch  thereof.  It  has  also  been  claimed  for 
these  windows  that,  although  modern,  yet  taking  into  con- 
sideration their  number,  their  beauty  of  colouring,  of  design, 
and  of  workmanship,  and  also  the  assured  status  of  the 
schools  and  artists  which  they  represent,  this  collection  is 
not  surpassed  by  any  other  in  Europe.  This  indeed  sounds 
high  praise,  but  may  now  be  strongly  modified.  In  the 
nave,  as  well  as  in  the  choir,  the  colouring  is  in  several 
instances  brilliant  to  garish ness,  and  we  also  note  with  deep 
regret  that  in  many  windows  the  features  of  saints  and 
prophets  are  sadly  defaced,  even  to  obliteration.  Texts  are 
also  faded  out,  and  within  the  past  five  years  there  has  been 
marked  deterioration  of  beauty  and  effect.  The  atmosphere 
of  the  city,  heavily  charged  with  chemicals  in  this  particular 
neighbourhood,  has  been  blamed  as  the  cause  thereof,  but 
one  feels  dubious  as  to  the  acceptance  of  such  a  statement 
in  its  entirety.  So  far  as  known,  stained-glass  windows  in 
other  manufacturing  towns,  with  equally  impure  atmosphere, 
have  not  suffered  to  the  same  extent.  The  windows  in  the 
Crypts  do  not  show  so  much  deterioration  ;  the  beauty  and 
perfect  condition  of  mediaeval  glass  is  patent  to  all  ;  and  the 
window  that  cannot  show  forth  clear  and  good  to  its  own 
jubilee,  surely  betokens  bad  workmanship.  One  regrets, 
too,  that  when  this  series  of  windows  was  completed,  the 
Morris  and  Burne-Jones  school  had  not  yet  raised  itself  to 
public  esteem,  so  we  have  no  window  in  this  Cathedral,  pro- 
claiming by  its  soft  and  subdued  tones  the  work  of  those 
artistic  master  craftsmen. 


GLASGOW  25 

In  commenting  upon  {he  decay  of  the  glass,  no  charge  can 
be  made  as  to  the  possible  ignorance  of  an  amateur  com- 
mittee or  of  any  economies  on  the  part  of  the  donors.  Facts 
prove  far  otherwise.  After  the  restoration  of  the  building  was 
completed  in  1855?  Sir  Andrew  Orr,  Lord  Provost  of  the 
City,  called  a  meeting  of  all  citizens  and  heritors  able  and 
willing  to  subscribe  towards  the  restoration  of  the  Cathedral 
windows.  Glasgow  was  then  in  the  heyday  of  prosperity 
and  most  liberally  did  her  merchant  princes  vie  with  public- 
spirited  noblemen  in  willingness  to  contribute  towards  such 
worthy  object.  The  acting  committee  very  wisely  decided 
to  place  the  responsibility  of  all  detail  as  to  the  selection  of 
artists,  &c,  in  the  hands  of  Chevalier  Maximilian  Ainmiller, 
inspector  of  the  Royal  Establishment  of  glass  painting  in 
Munich,  a  proof  that  no  insular  prejudice  prevailed. 
Although  the  artists  were  left  entirely  free  as  to  the  treat- 
ment of  their  subject,  a  general  scheme  of  unity  was  carried 
out.  Beginning  in  the  north-west  corner  of  the  Nave, 
according  to  rule  and  practice,  the  subjects  follow  each 
other  from  the  Expulsion  from  the  Garden  of  Eden  through- 
out the  order  of  Bible  chronology — Adam,  Noah,  Abraham, 
Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses,  Job,  Aaron  and  Miriam,  Joshua 
and  Deborah,  Gideon  and  Ruth,  Samuel  and  Hannah,  Saul, 
David,  Elijah,  Elisha,  Hezekiah,  Esther,  Daniel — the  scenes 
and  events  in  the  life  of  each  being  grouped  around  the 
respective  characters. 

The  window  over  the  Western  Door,  the  work  of  Chevalier 
Moritz  von  Schwind,  depicts  four  national  events  in  the 
history  of  God's  chosen  people — the  Giving  of  the  Law, 
the  Entrance  into  the  Promised  Land,  the  Dedication  of  the 
Temple,  the  Captivity  into  Babylon. 

The  South  Transept  Window,  by  the  same  artist,  illus- 
trates the  connection  between  the  two  Testaments  ;  the 
types  and  anti-types  of  the  Saviour  in  Noah's  issuing  from 
the  Ark,  the  prototype  of  Christ's  baptism  in  Jordan  ;  so 
with  the  gathering  of  the  manna  and  of  the  true  bread  from 
heaven  through  Christ ;  Melchizedec's  offering  bread  and 


26 


GLASGOW 


wine  with  Christ's  institution  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  feast  ; 
Isaac's  ascension  of  Mount  Moriah  carrying  the  faggots  for 
sacrificial  fire  with  Christ's  bearing  of  His  cross  to  Calvary  ; 
the  Priest  offering  of  the  first  fruits  with  Christ's  resurrection 
as  "  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept." 

The  North  Transept  Window,  by  Heinrich  von  Hess — a 
member  of  almost  every  Academy  of  Art  in  Europe — 
depicts  the  Prophets  Moses,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel, 
Malachi,  and  John  the  Baptist  proclaiming  the  advent  of  the 
Saviour  of  the  world.  The  Clerestory  windows  are  also 
filled  in  by  figures  of  men  and  women  prominent  in  Sacred 
Writ,  the  work  done  by  the  Royal  School  in  Munich. 

Within  the  Choir,  the  windows  illustrate  the  parables  and 
miracles  of  our  Lord  ;  the  Clerestory  shows  forth  the  figures 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  women  of  the  New  Testament 
noted  for  their  good  works;  and  in  the  Lady  Chapel,  the 
Apostles,  with  the  exception  of  the  four  Evangelists,  are 
depicted. 

The  Great  East  Window  is  familiarly  known  as  the 
Queen's  window,  as  it  was  the  gift  of  Her  late  Majesty, 
Queen  Victoria.  The  subject  of  the  Four  Evangelists  has 
been  nobly  treated  by  Johann  von  Schrandolph,  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Bavaria.  In  the  lower  divisions  of  the  four 
lights  are  seen  the  Royal  coats  of  arms — England,  Scotland, 
Ireland,  Wales — or  the  three  lions  (leopards)  couchant,  one 
lion  rampant,  one  demi  lion  erect,  and  the  three  feathers. 
Less  familiar,  and  therefore  of  greater  interest,  is  the  divi- 
sion showing  the  late  Queen's  private  coat  of  arms,  if  it  be 
not  presumption  to  write  of  Queen  Victoria  as  a  private 
individual.  A  cap  and  peacock's  feather  and  the  motto 
"  Fest  und  Treu "  combine  the  Guelph  and  Coburg  arms 
for  the  Queen  and  Prince  Consort,  whilst  three  peacock 
feathers  and  three  green  bars  (for  Prince  Consort)  appear 
alongside  the  three  lions.  These  three  green  bars  (confirm- 
ing his  father's  arms)  again  appear  with  the  three  feathers  in 
the  coat  of  arms  for  the  Prince  of  Wales,  now  the  King. 
The  Scottish  thistle  and  the  Irish  harp  are  also  prominent. 


GLASGOW 


27 


In  no  other  cathedral  is  this  Coburg  and  Guelph  coat  of 
arms  to  be  seen,  a  fact  which  the  official  guide — a  Scotsman 
to  the  core — rarely  forgets  to  impress  upon  his  hearers.  The 
effect  of  the  window  is  both  rich  and  harmonious  in  its 
dignified  treatment  of  the  figures,  and  from  its  conspicuous 
position  the  weekly  worshippers  have  ample  opportunity  for 
studying  its  detail.  As  one  looks  around,  one  is  deeply 
impressed  by  "the  boast  of  heraldry,  the  pomp  of 
pride,"  seeing  in  every  window  the  blazon  of  its  donor's 
pedigree,  his  claim  to  recognition  as  a  notable  son  of  his 
country. 

Turning  towards  the  Chapter  House,  we  shall  find  its 
windows,  by  Hughes  of  London,  very  effective  indeed  in 
their  rich  colouring  upon  a  silver  ground-work.  The  acts 
of  Charity  and  Mercy — feeding  the  hungry,  visiting  the  sick, 
clothing  the  naked — are  graphically  set  forth.  The  window 
of  special  interest,  however,  is  that  showing  St.  Columba's 
visit  to  Kentigern,  and  Kentigern's  baptism  of  the  heathen. 

The  Nave  and  Choir  excite  our  admiration,  though  at 
times  we  cannot  but  feel  critical,  and  it  is  on  making  our 
descent  into  the  magnificent  Crypts  that  we  fully  realise  the 
beauty  of  the  glass  and  the  power  of  its  artificers.  Here 
each  window  is  as  a  gem  enhanced  in  lustre  by  the  dimness 
of  the  shafts  of  light  stealing  past  the  shadowy  gray  columns  ; 
here  we  spontaneously  repeat  Milton's  immortal  lines — 

"  Storied  windows  richly  dight 
Casting  a  dim  religious  light." 

Above,  we  had  looked  on  quality  in  quantity  ;  below,  we 
have  the  quality  in  all  the  perfection  of  miniature  art.  The 
exquisite  jewelled  effect  of  the  series  of  windows  by  j. 
Baptiste  Capronnier,  of  Brussels,  is  surely  unique.  How 
wonderfully  realistic  is  that  one  in  Blackadder's  Crypt  telling 
the  story  of  St.  Paul  in  Melita,  the  fire  of  logs,  the  adder 
fastened  on  the  apostle's  wrist,  the  growing  horror  and  terror 
depicted  on  the  faces  of  those  around,  and  Paul's  stern 


GLASGOW 


courage  as  he  shakes  off  the  viper 
with  drops  of  blood  from  the  wound. 
There  is  a  fascination  in  this  window 
which  compels  one  to  look,  to  return, 
and  finally  to  cany  the  whole  scene 
vividly  in  the  memory  for  many  days 
to  follow. 

Xo  less  beautiful  are  the  Bertini 
windows  in  the  great  Crypt.  For 
boldness  of  outline,  for  colouring, 
and  for  drapery  of  robes,  this  artist 
of  Milan  is  unrivalled.  The  golden 
robe  of  our  Blessed  Saviour  reminds 
one  of  the  textures  of  the  great  Spanish 
painters,  its  soft  folds  are  so  truly 
regal  in  their  magnificence.  Then, 
in  splendid  contrast,  stands  forth  John 
the  Baptist,  in  sombre  garment  of 
camel's  hair  with  leathern  girdle,  his 
arms  and  legs  bare  and  his  head  also 
uncovered.  Only  in  the  hands  of  a 
great  artist  could  neutral  tints  pro- 
duce such  effect.  We  are  all  familiar 
with  the  eyes  of  paintings  that  human- 
like follow  us  about  as  we  cross  and 
recross  in  front  of  them,  but  here  we 
have  a  figure  that  moves  bodily.  We 
pass  to  the  left  and  it  follows  us  ;  we 
stand  in  front,  it  faces  us  ;  we  turn  to 
the  right,  the  whole  body  has  moved 
also  ;  even  the  sandalled  feet  seem  to 
keep  step  with  ours.  An  inspired 
treatment  of  an  inspiring  subject, 
truly  the  mightiest  of  messengers  as 
well  as  a  very  appropriate  memorial 
Tin-  Irving  Window,  to  the  memory  of  the  great  Edward 
Lower  Chunk.         Irving,  whose  words  of  zeal  awoke 


GLASGOW 


29 


such  fervour  and  enthusiasm  a  generation  ago  that  many 
believed  in  him  as  the  Messenger  of  the  Latter  Day. 

Hard  by  we  may  also  see  two  windows  of  softly  rich  tints 
replete  with  interest  from  a  historical  point  of  view.  King 
Roderick,  St.  Mungo,  and  St.  Columba  are  painted  in  the 
one  ;  Archbishops  Boyd,  Burnet,  and  Paterson  in  the  other  ; 
whilst  across  the  Crypt,  we  may  also  see  King  Roderick's 
child  baptised  by  the  good  St.  Mungo.  In  the  Lauder 
Crypt,  beneath  the  Chapter  House,  twelve  small  windows 
represent  angels  bearing  emblems  of  our  Lord  and  of  the 
Evangelists. 

Glasgow  Cathedral  is  indeed  worthy  of  attention,  even 
from  those  who  have  visited  the  finest  churches  in  Europe, 
for,  as  before  said,  its  series  of  windows  is  unique  in  unity 
of  design  and  purpose.  Here  we  have  the  story  of  sacred 
writ  from  Genesis  to  the  Revelation,  a  practical  exposition  of 
the  Word  of  God  even  to  the  most  inattentive  hearer  of  that 
word  as  read  or  preached. 

When,  added  to  these  attractions,  we  can  find  a  simple  yet 
reverent  ritual  of  service,  an  eloquent  sermon,  and  magnifi- 
cent singing,  need  we  wonder  that  a  vast  congregation 
worships  here  every  Sunday,  and  that  Scottish  Presbyterians 
can  point  with  justifiable  pride  to  this  church,  within  whose 
walls  all  things  are  done  reverently  and  in  order. 


BRECHIN 


St.  Niniaw 
4th  Century. 


FOL'N'DED 
990  A.D. 


"  There  is  a  pleasure  on  the  heath  where  Druids  old  have  been, 
Where  mantles  gray  have  rustled  by  and  sweep  the  nettled  green." 

T~^OLLOWING  up  an  assertion  recently  made  that  the 


early  history  of  Scotland  must  be  learned  more  or 


JL  less  from  a  study  of  her  ecclesiastical  buildings,  by 
entering  into  the  spirit  of  that  time  when  gentle  hermits  and 
rude  warriors  alike  were  led  to  unconsciously  perpetuate  to 
future  generations,  in  place-names  and  traditional  folk-lore, 
their  devotion  to  God's  service,  we  may  trace  the  story  of 
the  ancient  City  and  Church  of  Brechin. 

Her  Roman  camps,  Celtic  relics,  Round  Tower,  Cathedral, 
Maisondieu  Chapel,  and  Castle,  all  tell  their  tale  effectively, 
for  the  most  valuable  lessons  of  history  are  not  learned  from 
books.  Tradition  speaks  of  Brechin  "as  the  chief  seat  of 
Druidism  benorth  the  Forth,  and  the  Pictish  capital."  The 
Pictish  Chronicle  of  date  990  A.D.  says  :  "  It  was  a  great  city." 

St.  Ninian,  whom  the  venerable  Bede  styles  "  the  most 
reverent  bishop  and  holy  man  of  the  British  nation,"  is  its 
patron,  and  as  we  know  that  he  travelled  from  "  Whithorn 
in  the  South  to  the  Grampians  in  the  North,"  the  first 
message  of  Christianity  must  have  been  heard  here  towards 
the  close  of  the  fourth  century.  St.  Ninian  was  the  close 
friend  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  and  Martin's  name  was 
revered  throughout  Scotland.    Martinmas  is  still  one  of  the 


BR  EC  HIS' 


principal  markets  and  hiring  terms  in  Scottish  farm  and 
domestic  life. 

The  position  of  the  Cathedral  and  Round  Tower  (for  the 
two  must  ever  be  associated  together)  on  a  sandstone  rock, 
precipitous  on  two  sides  and  sloping  on  the  other  two, 
presents  a  fit  and  highly  probable  site  for  Druidic  worship, 
and  local  names  are  strongly  corroborative  of  the  same. 

The  Columbites  established  on  the  mainland  three  hun- 
dred mission  colleges,  all  looking  to  the  Mother  Church  at 
Iona  as  their  head,  and  we  may  naturally  presume  that 
Brechin  then  became  an  active  centre,  for  it  was  an  unfail- 
ing custom  of  the  early  Fathers  to  establish  Christian  rites 
and  ceremonies  upon  the  sites  of  Druidic  shrines.  Its 
origin,  however,  is  briefly  yet  succinctly  recorded  in  the 
Pictish  Chronicle,  thai  King  Kenneth  III.  "gave  the  great  City 
of  Brechin  to  the  Lord"  in  990  A.D. 

Skene  in  his  Celtic  Church  says  :  "  Like  the  other  churches 
which  belong  to  the  period  after  the  establishment  of  a 
Scottish  dynasty  on  the  throne  in  the  person  of  Kenneth 
Mac  Alpin,  it  emanated  from  the  Irish  Church,  and  was 
assimilated  in  its  character  to  the  Irish  monasteries  ;  and  to 
this  we  may,  no  doubt,  attribute  the  well-known  Round 
Tower  of  Brechin."  We  near  nothing  more  of  this  Church 
till  the  reign  of  David  I. ;  but  one  of  the  witnesses  to  the 
charter  granted  by  him,  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign, 
to  the  church  at  Deer,  is  "  Leot,  Abbot  of  Brechin,"  and 
again  "  Samson,  Bishop  of  Brechin,"  witnesses  a  later 
charter. 

Boece  says,  however,  that  the  Danes  in  10 12,  under 
Camus,  cousin  of  King  Sweyn,  came  to  Brechin — "  then  ane 
nobill  town,"  when  they  also 

"  Brent  all  in  fire, 
Except  a  steeple  which  that  made  defense 
Baith  kirk  and  quire." 

Malcolm  II.,  1001-34,  was  King  then,  he  who  was  slain 
at  Glamis  Castle  and  whose  grandson   was  the  "gentle 


32 


Duncan"  ;  and  there  is  also  a  tradition  that  this  King  built 
a  monastery  for  the  Culdees  at  Brechin  in  honour  of  his 
victory  over  the  Danes.  (The  grave  of  Camus,  with  its 
beautifully  carved  and  sculptured  cross,  may  still  be  seen  at 
Monikie  where  St.  Regulus  built  the  second  church  of  his 
mission.) 

When  David,  the  "  Sair  Sanct,"  founded  this  Cathedral  in 
1 150,  he  dedicated  it  to  the  Holy  Trinity.  The  Culdees, 
however,  are  often  alluded  to  in  charters,  notably  "  Bricius, 
Prior  of  the  Keledei  of  Brechin,"  as  taking  rank  immediately 
after  the  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews  ;  and  Skene  says  : — "  Brechin 
thus  presents  at  this  time  the  same  features  as  Abernethy, 
and  shows  us  the  Abbacy  in  the  possession  of  a  lay  Abbot 
and  a  community  of  Keledei  under  a  Prior."  Hereditary 
lay  Abbots  they  appear  to  have  been,  as  records  of  Arbroath 
Abbey  show  son  succeeding  father,  and  we  can  easily 
understand  this  when  we  recall  the  Celtic  law  of  Tanistry 
which  made  all  offices,  in  Church  and  State,  hereditary  to 
the  family,  elective  in  the  member. 

One  very  interesting  record  in  one  of  King  David's 
charters  "  grants  permission  to  hold  markets  on  Sabbath  to 
the  Bishops  and  Culdees  ;  and  his  grandson,  William  the 
Lion,  1 165-12 14,  confirms  the  said  charter,  using  the  same 
words."  (To  this  day,  the  great  fair  of  the  year  is  held  for 
three  days  in  July,  and  is  known  as  "Trinity  Market.") 

After  the  year  1218,  we  find  the  Keledei  distinguished 
from  the  Chapter  (of  the  Cathedral),  and  in  1248  they  have 
entirely  disappeared,  and  we  hear  only  of  the  Dean  and 
Chapter  of  Brechin. 

Of  these  Culdees  and  their  work  we  may  truly  write 
"  Gone,  but  not  forgotten,"  for  the  College  yards,  the  College 
well,  the  College  wynd,  are  still  in  the  mouths  of  thoughtless 
schoolboys  daily,  whilst  their  more  thoughtful  elders  know 
that  these  early  Fathers  were  teachers  filled  with  zeal  and  love 
of  learning  per  sc,  and  that  the  foundations  of  the  national 
desire  for  universal  education,  which  has  stamped  Scotland 
and  her  sons  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  were  laid  by  the 


HRECHIX 


33 


early  Celtic  Fathers,  and  had  their  origin  in  the  constitution 
and  practice  of  the  Celtic  Church.  John  Knox  preached 
vehemently  and  often  against  "  Godless  ignorant  people," 
and  his  coupling  of  the  one  attribute  with  the  other  was  a 
bign  of  the  times. 

We  know  that  King  David  founded  Brechin,  contem- 
poraneously with  Dunblane,  out  of  the  Pictish  diocese  of 
Abernethy,  but  we  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  actual 
building  of  the  Cathedral.  Not  until  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury is  there  a  single  record,  and  even  that  is  not  told  by 
ancient  Chronicler  nor  contained  in  charter  or  chartulary 
of  College  or  Cathedral ;  but  in  the  session  books  of  the 
lonely  outlying  parish  of  Lethnot,  among  the  hills,  we  find 
this  entry:  "The  vicar  of  the  said  parish  in  fulfilment  of 
his  obligation  delivered  to  Patrick,  Bishop  of  Brechin 
(1354-84),  a  large  white  horse,  and  also  a  cart  and  horse 
to  lead  stones  to  the  building  of  the  belfry  of  the  Church 
of  Brechin  in  the  time  of  Bishop  Patrick." 

This  belfry  tower  or  steeple  is  a  massive  square  seventy 
feet  in  height,  and  above  it  the  octagonal  spire  rises  fifty-eight 
feet,  the  whole  being  considered  the  finest  example  of  its 
kind  in  Scotland.  The  ground  floor  is  finely  vaulted,  and 
the  windows  in  the  belfry  are  of  earlier  period  than  those  of 
the  spire  which  evidently  belongs  to  what  is  known  as  the 
third  Pointed  period.  Although  the  present  building  forms 
a  comfortable  parish  church,  it  is  by  far  the  plainest  and 
least  attractive  of  Scottish  Cathedrals.  The  sum  of  _£i  2,000 
for  a  fine  restoration  has  been  contributed  in  accordance 
with  the  general  desire,  manifest  throughout  the  land,  for 
the  revival  of  the  ancient  landmarks  as  well  as  for  a  higher 
development  of  ecclesiastical  architecture.  There  is  nothing 
sacred  in  baldness  or  ugliness,  the  love  of  beauty  is  of  the 
highest,  and  for  God*s  worship  everything  should  be  done 
reverently  and  in  order. 

The  Church,  as  it  now  stands,  lost  its  cruciform  shape  in 
1806  by  the  removal  of  the  transepts.  The  Nave,  about  84 
by  58  feet,  and  a  small  portion  (30  feet)  of  the  first  choir — 
4 


34 


BRECH IX 


originally  84  feet  in  length — remain,  and  the  west  window 
and  doorway  belong  to  the  thirteenth  century.  Mr. 
Black,  a  native  of  the  city,  and  of  considerable  repute  as 
an  authority,  describes  the  building  before  the  so-called 
restoration  of  1806.  "  It  was  a  handsome  Gothic  building, 
consisting  of  a  nave  with  two  aisles,  'with  north  and  south 
transepts  formed  by  an  extension  of  these  aisles,  but  without 
any  appearance  of  pillars  or  arches  in  these  transepts.  In 
1806,  new  and  wider  aisles  were  added  to  the  nave,  and  the 
walls  raised  to  such  a  height  that  one  roof  covered  the 
whole,  thus  totally  eclipsing  the  beautiful  windows  in  the 
nave,  and  covering  up  the  handsome  carved  cornice  of  the 
nail-head  quatrefoil  description,  which  ran  under  the  eaves 
of  the  nave.  The  eight  piers  of  the  nave  present  peculiarities  ; 
those  on  the  south  side  being  octagonal  and  thinner  than 
those  on  the  north  side,  which  are  also  alternately  clustered 
and  octagonal." 

The  choir  has  now  only  three  lancet  windows  on  the 
north  side,  and  one  respond  on  the  south  side ;  but,  from 
the  beautiful  cornice  and  mouldings,  architects  consider 
that  it  must  have  been  originally  a  very  pure  and  beautiful 
example  of  the  first  Pointed  style. 

The  interior  is  still  plain,  even  to  baldness,  but  a  fine 
organ  has  been  introduced.  The  galleries,  still  in  existence, 
and  the  pews,  of  the  old-fashioned  narrow  and  high-backed 
style,  are  to  be  removed.  Originally,  there  were  no  seats 
except  for  the  clergy,  but  the  worshippers  were  permitted  to 
carry  their  stools  to  church.  This  custom  was  not  local 
only,  but  general,  as  we  can  recall  the  scene  at  St.  Giles 
when  Jennie  Geddes  hurled  her  stool  at  the  offending  Dean's 
head.  It  was  Bishop  Lindsay  of  Brechin  who  mounted  the 
pulpit  to  quell  that  disturbance.  Between  1658-85  there 
are  various  records  of  the  Bishop  and  Town-Session  per- 
mitting individuals  to  erect  pews.  The  trades  of  the  city, 
incorporated  in  1600,  had  as  early  as  1608  erected  "lofts" 
or  galleries,  to  which  they  marched  on  special  occasions, 
arrayed  in  the  particular  livery  of  their  craft,  equally  full 


35 


of  self-importance  and  of  criticism  for  the  preachers  to 
whom  they  gave  "  a  hearing."  Such  galleries  were  common 
enough  in  city  churches,  but  Brechin  alone  of  the  Scot- 
tish Cathedrals  has  authentic  records  of  such.  On  the  front 
or  "breast  "  of  the  galleries  was  depicted  the  special  coat  of 
arms  of  each  guild,  whilst  beneath  each  escutcheon  was  in- 
scribed a  suitable  text — we  may  even  add,  a  very  ingeniously 
chosen  text — proving  how  many  and  varied  may  be  the 
interpretations  of  Holy  Writ. 

The  Town  Magistrates. 

The  Decalogue,  supported  by  Moses  and  Aaron,  each 
bearing  a  rod  pointed  towards  the  Tables  of  the  Law. 

The  Scholars. 

"The  law  was  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ." 
"  Now  learn  of  Me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly." 

Glovers  and  Skinners. 

"  Present  rams'  skins  dyed  red  and  badgers'  skins  for  an 
offering." 

Farmers. 

"They  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy." 

Tailors. 

"  The  hand  of  the  diligent  maketh  rich." 
"  They  sewed  fig  leaves  together  and  made  themselves 
aprons." 

(We  cannot  but  feel  regret  that  their  second  text  was  not 
appropriately  selected  from  the  Breeches  edition  of  the 
Bible.) 

Wrights. 

"  The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  the  palm  tree." 
Weavers. 

■"  My  days  are  swifter  than  a  weaver's  shuttle." 


36 


Bakers. 

"  Present  a  cake  of  your  first  dough  an  offering  to  the 
Lord." 

"Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone." 

Smiths. 

"  The  smith  drinketh  no  water  and  is  faint." 

Butchers. 

"  Rise,  slay  and  eat." 

Shoemakers. 

"  And  your  feet  shod  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel 
of  peace." 

Believers. 

One  loft,  not  especially  assigned,  owing  to  its  position 
behind  the  pulpit  which  thus  prevented  the  face  of  the 
preacher  from  being  seen,  was  known  as  the  "  Believers' 
Loft,"  because  faith  rather  than  sight  was  the  portion  of 
its  occupants. 

The  Cathedral's  story  is  incomplete  without  that  of  the 
Maison-Dieu,  the  only  one  of  the  chapels  left  with  one 
stone  upon  another.  This  is  the  chapel  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  founded  in  1256  by  William  de  Brechin,  for 
the  repose  of  the  souls  of  the  good  Kings  William  and 
Alexander  II.;  of  the  Earl's  brother  John,  Earl  of  Chester 
and  Huntingdon  ;  of  Henry,  his  father,  and  of  Juliana,  his 
mother  ; — an  interesting  item  of  history  proving  to  us  how 
closely  English  and  Scottish  Normans  were  united  in 
interests  as  well  as  in  lands.  A  small  revenue,  still  derived 
from  the  land  attached  thereto,  is  given  by  the  Crown  to 
the  Rector  of  the  Grammar  School,  who  gains  thereby  the 
privilege  of  signing  after  his  name  "  Pneceptor  Domus 
Dei."  The  structure  itself  is  highly  limited,  as  but  forty 
feet  of  south  wall  and  a  fragment  of  the  east  wall  are  now 
left.     Three  fine  lancet  windows  and  an  arched  doorway 


BRECHIX 

in  the  south  wall  prove  its  period,  but  alas  !  the  desecration 
is  complete.  Its  interior  was  covered  with  newly  washed 
clothes  when  the  writer  visited  it  (and  yet  the  native 
proverb  says,  "Cleanliness  is  next  to  Godliness"),  and 
through  its  finely  moulded  windows  the  wind  made  melan- 
choly melody  as  if  in  requiem.  Its  name,  thoroughly 
Scotticised  in  pronunciation,  is  one  more  addition  to  the 
list  of  French  words  incorporated  into  Scottish  dialect. 

The  Bishops  of  Brechin  were  men  of  note  and  occupied 
a  leading  position  in  the  management  of  national  as  well  as 
of  local  affairs,  and  from  the  story  of  their  lives  we  glean 
many  facts  of  national  interest.  Patrick  de  Leuchars  was 
Lord  Chancellor  in  1372  ;  and  John  de  Carnoth,  also  a 
Lord  Chancellor,  accompanied  the  Princess  Margaret  to 
France  in  1435.  (A  sad-hearted  story  of  this  homesick 
little  princess  who  became  the  child-wife  of  the  noted 
Louis  XI.  is  admirably  told  for  us  by  Jusserand  in  his 
book,  The  Romance  of  a  King's  Life.)  Under  date  1463,  we 
find  that  James  III.  issued  a  precept  stating  "that  through 
the  profligacy  of  the  Bishops  and  Canons,  the  revenue  of 
the  Cathedral  had  been  greatly  reduced  by  frequent  aliena- 
tions of  its  property,  and,  in  consequence,  steps  were  taken 
and  some  of  the  lands  were  restored,  or  an  annual  feu  duty 
paid  for  them."  (This  old  French  word  fen  is  still  in  daily 
use  in  Scotland.)  Lollardism  had  already  entered  Scotland, 
and  in  this  northern  See  there  were  men  bold  enough  to 
accuse  the  Church  dignitaries  of  "  profligacy." 

When  James  V.  died  in  1542,  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
new  Parliament,  called  in  name  of  the  infant  Mary  Stuart, 
was  to  ordain  that  :  "  It  should  be  lawful  to  all  our 
sovereign  lady's  lieges  to  have  the  Holy  Writ,  viz.,  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Old,  in  the  vulgar  tongue  ;  and  that 
they  should  incur  no  crime  for  the  having  and  reading  of 
the  same."  The  then  Bishop  of  Brechin  was  the  most 
vehement  opponent  to  the  passing  of  this  law.  Later  on, 
we  find  Bishop  Sinclair,  President  also  of  the  Session, 
officiating  at  the  marriage  of  Queen  Mary  and  Darnley. 


37 


3» 


BRECHIS' 


Still  another,  Bishop  Lamb,  has  left  his  memory  em- 
balmed in  the  minds  of  all  the  children  of  Angus  and 
Mearns;  and  every  sentimental  Tommie,  whether  of  nearby 
Thrums  or  elsewhere,,  in  time  has  duly  been  initiated  into 
the  mystery,  and  has  then  in  turn  propounded  the  local 
riddle,  still  fresh  and  ever  new,  though  in  reality  nearly 
three  centuries  old — 

"  The  Minister,  the  Dominie,  and  Maister  Andrew  Lamb, 
Gaed  inta  the  gairden  whar'  three  pears  hang 
Tho'  ilka  ane  took  ane,  still  twa  hang?" 

(He  held  the  three  offices  in  person.) 

After  the  Reformation,  Episcopacy  prevailed,  as  the 
Royalist  party  were  both  strong  and  influential  here. 
Bishop  Drummond  preached  his  last  sermon  in  the 
Cathedral  in  1689  when  the  brothers  Skinner  succeeded 
as  ministers.  Then  in  1709  Mr.  Skinner  was  deposed.  In 
1715,  the  year  of  the  so-called  Pretenders'  Rebellion,  Mr. 
Wilkinson  was  "sorely  persecuted  "  and  retired  in  favour  of 
Mr.  Guthrie,  an  advocate  for  the  Stuarts.  National  politics 
had  become  predominant  with  Church  parties,  and  when 
Mr.  Wilkinson  left  "  inhospitable  Brechin  "  for  Dundee,  no 
man  would  lend  or  offer  horse  or  cart  even  to  drive  his 
goods  and  chattels  out  of  town.  But  those  of  us  who  at 
our  mother's  knee  learned  the  Mother's  Catechism  have 
already  added  our  tribute  of  esteem  for  the  unappreciated 
Wilkinson.  The  late  Rev.  Dr.  McCosh  of  Princeton 
University,  a  native  of  Brechin,  no  doubt  knew  it  well, 
and  so  too  the  great  Dr.  Guthrie  of  Ragged  School  fame, 
whose  dearest  home  associations  were  centred  here.  (The 
Bishop  of  Brechin  still  ranks  as  Primate  in  the  Scottish 
Episcopal  Church.) 

Brechin  is  well  worthy  of  a  visit.  This  "  ancient  city," 
the  only  cathedral  seat  of  Forfarshire  or  ancient  Angus,  is 
in  the  very  centre  of  a  district  full  of  interest  to  antiquarian, 
historian,  and  ecclesiologist.  It  was  part  of  Pictland, 
and  Pagan  and  early  Christian  monuments  alike  abound. 


39 


There  are  ancient  churches  and  castles,  standing  and  in 
ruins,  carved  stones  also — veritable  treasure-trove  for  those 
who  love  such  silent  tales  of  a  dim  and  hoary  past.  Druids, 
Picts,  Celts,  Romans,  and  Culdee  Christians  were  here 
before  Roman  Catholicism,  Episcopacy,  or  Presbyterianism 
were  in  existence  as  terms;  and  Brechin  was  recorded  "a 
great  city "  whilst  Scotland  was  yet,  not  one,  but  many 
small  kingdoms.  In  the  story  of  the  Round  Tower,  in- 
separable from  that  of  the  Cathedral,  we  shall  learn  anew 
of  the  records  of  the  past. 


THE  ROUND  TOWER  OF  BRECHIN. 

"  Old  landmarks  change— a  shadow  still  is  cast 
From  this  old  tower,  touched  with  the  light  of  years, 
Whose  fadeless  glory  all  the  past  endears." 

Though  Ireland  possesses  seventy-six  round  towers, 
Scotland  has  only  two  on  the  mainland — Abernethy  and 
Brechin,  and  that  of  Egilsay,  one  of  the  Orkney  Islands. 
The  tower  of  Brechin,  however,  was  not  built  till  long  after 
that  of  Abernethy,  which  diocese  had  been  divided  between 
Dunblane  and  Brechin.  There  seems  little  doubt  that 
these  towers  formed  part  of  an  ecclesiastical  system  and 
also  that  they  were  copies  of  earlier  Irish  towers. 

The  Irish  towers  have  been  classified  into  four  orders, 
and  the  style,  of  which  Brechin  Tower  is  an  example,  was 
not  in  existence  before  the  first  half  of  the  tenth  century. 
Dr.  Petrie,  who  is  still  regarded  as  our  most  authentic  and 
unbiased  authority,  arrives  at  the  following  conclusions  : — 
"The  towers  in  Ireland  and  Scotland  were  of  Christian 
and  ecclesiastical  origin,  erected  at  various  periods  between 
the  fifth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  They  were  designed  to 
answer  at  least  a  twofold  purpose — to  serve  as  belfries,  and 
as  keeps  or  places  of  strength,  in  which  the  sacred  utensils, 
books,  relics,  and  other  valuables  were  deposited,  and  into 
which  ecclesiastics  could  retire  for  security  in  cases  of 


4° 


BRECHIN 


sudden  predatory  attack.  They  were  probably  also  used 
when  occasion  required  as  beacons  or  watch-towers." 

This  tower,  built  of  hard  reddish  gray  sandstone,  is 
86  feet  9  inches  in  height  from  ground  to  cornice  (the 
coping  having  been  added  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  later,  at  date  of  the  cathedral's  foundation) ;  thence  to 
the  vane  is  18  feet,  or  with  odd  inches,  nearly  106  feet  in  all. 
There  are  sixty  regular  courses  of  masonry,  the  external 
circumference  at  base  is  47  feet,  and  the  thickness  of  the 
wall  is  3  feet  8  inches.  On  the  west  side  is  a  doorway 
8  feet  6  inches  in  height,  and  6  feet  from  the  ground. 
This  doorway  is  particularly  interesting  because  of  its 
sculptured  figures  and  emblems.  The  aperture  is  formed 
by  four  stones  only,  one  for  the  sill,  one  upstanding  jamb 
on  either  side  inclined  towards  the  other  instead  of  perpen- 
dicular, and  the  semi-circular  arch  at  the  top  cut  out  of  two 
thicknesses  of  stone.  The  ornamentation  is  peculiarly  in- 
teresting. The  whole  doorway  is  defined  by  a  double  row 
of  pellets  running  round  between  two  narrow  fillets  on  the 
outer  and  inner  sides  of  the  stones  ;  as  may  also  be  seen 
on  a  few  of  the  Irish  towers  and  on  a  stone  at  Iona. 

Over  the  centre  of  the  arch  is  a  rude  representation  of 
the  Crucifixion  corresponding  to  that  on  the  tower  at 
Donoughmore.  In  the  centre  of  either  jamb  are  raised 
panels  on  which  are  carved  in  relief  the  figures  of  men 
robed  as  ecclesiastics.  One  bears  a  book  on  his  breast  and 
carries  the  cross  tan  or  cross-headed  staff,  very  rarely  to  be 
seen  in  monuments  extant  either  in  this  country  or  in  the 
East.  The  other  bears  the  usual  curved  staff  or  crook  so 
familiar  to  modern  eyes,  but  none  the  less  the  form  of 
pastoral  staff  peculiar  to  the  Celtic  Church.  Below  these, 
outside  the  sill  of  the  doorway,  are  two  crouched  and 
curious  creatures  of  the  usual  nondescript  character  seen 
in  early  carvings.  One  appears  to  resemble  a  winged 
griffin,  of  which,  and  its  kind,  we  may  quote  from  Ander- 
son's Scotland  in  Early  Christian  Times :  "  Remains  of 
that  school  of  early  art  that  arose  and  flourished  among 


4 


the  Celtic  Scots,  when  art  in  Europe  was  well  nigh 
dead.  Among  these  remains  we  shall  meet  with  a  series 
of  monumental  sculptures  of  a  class  which  exists  in  no 
other  country  in  the  world,  and  exhibiting  a  system  of 
mysterious  symbolism  which  is  found  in  no  land  but  our 
own."  Parallel  with  and  on  either  side  of  the  Crucifixion, 
but  also  outside  the  archway,  are  blank  panels  evidently 
intended  for  sculptures  which  were  never  executed. 

The  Tower  is  perfectly  circular,  tapering  gradually  to  the 
top,  the  stones  being  large  and  cut  to  the  circle.  There  is 
no  stair,  but  access  to  the  roof  top  may  be  gained  by 
those  bold  enough  to  climb  a  series  of  ladders,  placed  on 
floors  resting  on  corbels  or  abutments.  It  is  divided  into 
seven  unequal  stories  with  "string  courses"  to  sustain  the 
floors  ;  and  between  the  third  and  fourth  sections,  on  the 
east  and  south  sides  respectively,  are  two  flat-headed  win- 
dows, the  side  jambs  inclining  towards  each  other  at  the 
upper  end  as  do  those  of  the  doorway.  Higher  up,  below 
the  coping,  are  four  windows,  facing  the  cardinal  points, 
and  regularly  built,  thus  showing  two  distinct  styles,  the  one 
much  more  primitive  than  the  other.  Dr.  Petrie  places 
its  date  between  977  and  994  A.D. 

The  pious  Kenneth  may  have  watched  its  building,  and 
when  Brechin  was  sacked  by  the  Danes  in  1012,  it  probably 
formed  a  harbour  of  safety  for  Culdee  refugees  as  well  as 
for  their  precious  things.  Or,  as  other  authorities  claim, 
it  may  not  have  been  built  till  after  that  dire  event,  when 
the  absolute  necessity  for  some  such  protection  had  been 
sternly  impressed  by  Danish  object  lesson. 

A  living  memorial,  it  will  stand  to  our  children's  children 
of  many  generations,  to  teach  them  as  it  has  taught  us,  of 
the  grimness  as  well  as  of  the  grace  of  earlier  men  and 
manners. 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


St.  Machar.  Re-founded 
6th  Century.  1136  a.d. 

"  I  pray  you  let  us  satisfy  our  eyes 
With  the  memorials  and  the  things  of  fame 
That  do  renown  this  City." 

THE  Cathedral  of  St.  Machar,  in  Old  Aberdeen,  stands 
apart  from  its  Scottish  sisters  and  is  also  in  several 
respects  unique  in  European  Christendom  as  to  the 
character  of  its  decoration.  When  we  travel  North 
thereto  from  Brechin  we  leave  the  famed  old  red  sandstone 
of  Forfarshire  behind,  and  as  we  gradually  approach  the 
City  of  Aberdeen  note  the  dark  basaltic  cliffs  of  the  ter- 
rible Kincardineshire  coast  preparing  us  for  the  granites 
of  Aberdeenshire. 

"  Granite  City  "  is  the  familiar  name  of  this  fair,  clean 
town,  ideally  situated  between  the  rivers  Dee  and  Don 
which  tell  their  own  story  in  the  old  couplet — 

"  Except  it  be  for  fish  and  tree, 
Ae  rood  o'  Don's  worth  twa  o'  Dee." 

The  only  city,  too,  in  the  whole  country  that  ever  and 
always  looks  clean,  if  also  cold.  It  seems  as  if  busy 
commerce  with  its  coal  and  grimy  smoke  passed  it  by 
unheeded  and  untouched.  Far  otherwise,  it  is  the 
material  of  its  buildings  that  spurns  the  soot  and  smuts, 
so  full,  too,  of  quartz  and  mica  that  after  a  shower  of  rain 
every  lintel  and  pillar  sparkles  in  the  sun  as  if  inset  with 
42 


43 


diamonds.  Freestone,  sandstone,  or  brick  houses  are  so 
rarely  seen  as  to  make  one  feel  such  materials  non-existent. 
Even  the  streets  are  paved  with  roughened  blocks  of  granite 
— hard,  unyielding,  penitential  even  in  their  first  effect  upon 
unaccustomed  and  weary  feet.  And  there  be  reasons  many 
and  varied  offered  one  in  proof  that  "granite-headed  Aber- 
donians"  is.  an  equally  good  sobriquet. 

Before  crossing  to  the  Old  Town  (Auldton)  to  St. 
Machar's  Shrine,  let  us  learn  something  of  the  locale  of 
this  ancient  Church  and  Diocese.  For  Aberdeen  as  a 
University  and  Cathedral  seat,  fourth  of  Scottish  towns 
in  the  annals  of  commerce  and  population,  may  not  be 
lightly  dismissed.  It  possesses  stronger  claims  to  dis- 
tinction than  these  ;  it  can  claim  unique  records. 
Edinburgh,  as  capital,  has  become  first  in  historical  pro- 
minence, but  Aberdeen  is  second  and  actually  antedates 
Edinburgh  as  a  Scottish  city.  When  Edinburgh  was  in 
Lothian,  most  Saxon  of  Scotland's  provinces,  and  Glasgow 
was  in  Strathclyde,  outside  of  Scotia,  Aberdeen  was  Royal 
City  of  Pictland — that  Alban  which  became  Scotia.  It  was 
also  the  central  point  of  ancient  Caledonia. 

When  Perth  and  Dunfermline  were  royal  residences  of 
the  Celtic  kings,  before  the  Stewart  dynasty,  we  read  that 
"the  King  kept  Yule  in  Aberdeen,"  just  as  contemporary 
Normans  loved  to  keep  the  Christmas  feast  in  Gloucester  ; 
and  just  as  Gloucester  ever  since  has  enjoyed  special  rights 
and  privileges,  so  does  Aberdeen  bear  the  royal  tressure  on 
its  city  arms  and  the  French  motto  "  Bon  Accord."  Its 
county,  rich,  beautiful,  and  exceedingly  fertile,  is  equally 
interesting  to  the  historian,  antiquarian,  and  ecclesiologistr 
for  its  ancient  stone  dwellings  and  carved  stones  tell,  as 
do  its  many  fine  castles  in  ruins  and  now  standing,  of  the 
importance  of  its  men  in  early  and  later  national  life. 

From  the  Celtic  Monastery  at  Deer,  founded  by  Drostan, 
nephew  of  St.  Columba,  do  we  still  inherit  the  Book  of  Dcir, 
the  oldest  existing  literary  document,  "standing  at  the 
head  of  the  National  Manuscripts  of  Scotland,"  but  now  an 


44 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


honoured  treasure  in  the  University  Library  of  Cambridge, 
and  not,  as  one  could  wish  it,  within  the  walls  of  King's 
College.  At  Lumphanan,  Macbeth  was  ultimately  over- 
thrown and  killed,  though  Shakespere  notes  it  not  ;  at 
Inverurie,  the  patriot  Bruce  gained  the  first  victory  leading 
up  to  Bannockburn  ;  a  century  later,  came  that  terrible 
struggle  between  Highlanders  and  Lowlanders  which 
broke  up  for  ever  the  power  of  "  The  Lord  of  the  Isles," 
a  title  so  poetic  in  fancy,  so  fierce  in  reality.  What  with 
the  "  Red  Harlaw "  and  the  many  glowing  deeds  of  the 
Gordons,  second  only  to  the  Douglas  family  in  fame,  our 
Scottish  balladists  found  Aberdeenshire  a  field  of  rich  lore, 
and  mid  "  the  wild  flowers  of  literature  "  there  are  few  more 
pathetic  than  the  story  of  Edom  o'  Gordon  or  the  love  tale 
of  Miller  o'  Tiftie's  Annie.  Fit  birthplace,  then,  for  Barbour, 
"our  Scottish  Homer,"  who  according  to  Earle,  the  well- 
known  authority  on  Anglo-Saxon  philology,  "  in  his  poem 
of  The  Bruce  determined  the  character  of  modern  Scottish 
and  cast  it  in  a  permanent  mould,  just  as  his  contemporary 
Chaucer  did  for  our  English  people."  There  are  other 
incidents  and  names — notably  Boece's,  of  whom  more 
anon — but  the  one  of  which  Aberdonians  of  city  and 
country  alike  are  extremely  proud  is  that  our  and  their 
beloved  Queen  Victoria,  descendant  of  Pictish,  Celtic, 
Bruce,  and  Stewart  Kings,  voluntarily  chose  for  her  home 
Balmoral  on  the  banks  of  the  Dee,  and  there,  midst  its 
silvery  birches,  twice  a  year  she  came  and  went  from  his- 
toric, ceremonious  Windsor,  and  going  in  and  out  among 
her  people,  worshipped  with  them  in  the  parish  church, 
rejoiced  and  wept  with  them  as  a  queenly  woman  and  a 
womanly  Queen.  If  patriotism  and  loyalty  be  a  marked 
characteristic  of  the  Scots  as  a  people,  one  may  claim  that 
Aberdeen  is  the  central  pivot  of  its  movement. 

In  the  city  itself,  the  market  cross,  with  rich  carvings, 
coats  of  arms,  &c,  is  now  by  far  the  finest  of  its  kind 
in  Scotland,  a  true  relic  of  those  bygone  days,  when  round 
the  Mercat  Croce  gathered  eager  crowds  for  news  of  war,  or 


45 


to  listen  to  royal  proclamation,  or  maybe  to  jeer  at  some 
poor  unfortunate,  chained  to  the  jougs.  The  city  records 
are  the  oldest  and  fullest  extant  in  Scotland. 

To  Princes  Street,  Edinburgh,  one  yields  the  palm  as 
finest  of  British  streets.  In  the  long  line  of  Union  Street, 
Aberdeen,  we  have  the  finest  example  of  Doric  style  ;  its 
stateliness  of  line  and  massiveness  of  buildings  give  an 
imposing  and  impressive  effect.  A  handsome  street  of 
columns,  perennially  clean,  severely  classic,  as  if  the  vul- 
garity of  trade  and  the  strife  of  the  market-place  never 
existed  within  its  precincts. 

When  we  reach  Old  Aberdeen,  we  find  St.  Machar's 
granite  building  equally  severe  and  stately  in  its  massive 
proportions  ;  but  the  effect  of  coldness  from  gray  granite 
gives  place  here  to  a  rich  reddish-yellow  warmth,  as  the 
red  granite — locally  known  as  Peterhead  stone — is  used. 
But  granite,  whether  gray  or  red,  forbids  exuberance  of 
carved  line  or  flower-bedecked  capital  and  pillar,  as  we 
see  it  in  the  Gothic  beauty  of  Glasgow  or  Rosslyn. 

It  is  small,  too,  as  are  all  our  Scottish  cathedrals  in  com- 
parison with  those  of  England,  for  it  was  only  200  feet 
long,  and  therefore  the  same  size  as  St.  Asaph's.  Its  choir 
was  never  finished,  and  only  10  feet  of  the  foundations  of 
its  transepts  are  now  visible,  although  Orme,  in  his  history 
of  the  See,  written  a  century  ago,  speaks  of  seeing  the 
south  transept,  which  was  built  by  Gavin  Dunbar  in  1522, 
partially  destroyed.  For  the  tourist  nowadays,  the  nave 
is  all,  and  it  forms  the  parish  church.  But  such  a  nave  ! 
Such  a  ceiling  !  Here  and  nowhere  else  in  all  Europe 
have  we  "the  pomp  of  heraldry"  as  a  real  living  page 
out  of  the  book  of  Time  set  before  us,  and  for  this  ceiling 
alone  has  Aberdeen  been  visited  by  archaeologists  and 
churchmen  from  many  countries.  Its  story  will  form  a 
chapter  of  its  own.  But  though  this  Cathedral  be  shorn 
of  what  makes  the  cruciform  development  of  Gothic 
architecture   so  suggestive  and  familiar  to  us,  we  shall 


4* 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


none  the  less  find  many  interesting  points  in  the  detail 
of  the  building. 

First,  however,  a  brief  allusion  to  the  reputed  founder 
of  its  earlier  Celtic  Church,  who  still  lives  for  us  in  its 
name. 

St.  Mochonna,  Mauritius,  or  Machar,  an  Irishman  of 
noble  birth,  followed  Columba  to  Iona,  where  by  his  piety 
and  learning  he  rapidly  gained  esteem,  was  consecrated  a 
Bishop,  and  with  twelve  followers  was  sent  by  Columba  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  Northern  Picts.  These  early 
pioneers  of  our  civilisation  and  culture  literally  followed  out 
the  injunction  of  the  great  Master — take  neither  two  coats 
nor  staff,  nor  scrip.  But  tradition  tells  of  one  prophetic 
injunction  given  to  St.  Machar,  "To  build  a  church  upon 
the  bank  of  a  river  where  he  should  find  by  its  windings  it 
formed  the  figure  of  a  Bishop's  Crozier,"  and  this  tradition 
is  duly  recorded  in  the  Breviary  of  Aberdeen.  In  reality  we 
know  nothing  authentic  of  the  life  or  death  of  St.  Machar, 
though  tradition  also  tells  that  he  was  buried  in  the  church 
of  St.  Martin  of  Tours  ;  a  plausible  supposition,  since  we 
all  know  how  strongly  St.  Martin  has  impressed  Scottish 
nomenclature  and  custom.  Granting,  however,  that  St. 
Machar  chose  this  spot  on  the  banks  of  the  winding  Don 
for  his  church  of  wattles  and  clay,  its  foundation  must 
have  been  as  early  at  least  as  597  A.D.,  the  date  of  Columba's 
death. 

From  the  invaluable  Book  of  Deir,  we  learn  that  Nechtan, 
Bishop  of  Aberdeen,  1123-54,  witnessed  a  charter  in  which 
Cormac,  Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  is  mentioned  ;  and  Fordun, 
the  Chronicler,  states  that  the  See  of  Mortlach  was  transferred 
to  Aberdeen.  Some  maintain  that  this  See  of  Mortlach  was 
founded  by  Malcolm  Caenmore  as  a  thank-offering  for  the 
overthrow  of  Macbeth  and  consequent  restoration  of  his 
father's  (Duncan's)  kingdom.  Historically,  however,  we 
consider  Aberdeen  as  endowed  in  the  thirteenth  year  of 
David  I.,  taking  rank  as  fourth  in  the  precedence  of  Scottish 
Sees  and  also  on  the  Parliamentary  Rolls  of  the  country 


OLD  ABERDEES  47 

This  Xechtan  was  translated  in  1136,  and  was  the  "last 
bishop  of  Mortlack  and  the  first  of  Aberdeen." 

From  the  records  edited  for  the  Spalding  Club  we  learn 
"The  third  Bishop,  Matthew  Kinninmond,  began  to  build  a 
Cathedral  between  1 183  and  1189  to  supersede  the  primi- 
tive church  then  existing,  which  new  church,  because  it  was 
not  glorious  enough,  Bishop  Cheyne  threw  down."  Before 
this  prelate's  plans,  begun  in  1282,  were  nearly  completed, 
Edward  I.,  "The  Hammer  of  Scotland,"  had  appeared  on 
the  scene.  Cheyne's  work  remained  unfinished,  and  Robert 
Bruce,  good  churchman,  after  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
ordered  the  church  to  be  built  from  the  Bishop's  revenues 
(for  Cheyne  was  of  theComyn  family  and  therefore  absented 
himself  for  a  time). 

This  church  was  also  short-lived,  for  on  the  appointment 
of  Alexander  Kinninmond  as  Bishop  in  1355,  he,  emulous  of 
his  namesake  and  predecessor's  example,  began  a  new  and 
large  building  in  1370.  The  walls  of  the  nave  rose  a  few 
feet  and  there  remained.  Only  in  the  days  of  Bishop  Henry 
Leighton,  1422-40,  was  the  nave  completed,  the  northern 
transept  and  the  western  towers  erected.  His  successor, 
Bishop  Lindsay,  paved  and  roofed  the  Cathedral,  and  the 
glass  for  the  windows  was  added  by  powerful  Bishop  Spens, 
Keeper  of  the  Privy  Seal,  full  forty  years  after  Leighton's 
nominal  completion.  Think  of  forty  years'  experience  of 
unglazed  windows  !  How  one  wishes  that  Boece,  whose 
chronicles  are  so  delightfully  gossipy  at  times,  had  told  us 
something  of  those  open-air  windows.  (As  a  Canon  of  the 
Cathedral  then,  he  must  have  had  many  opportunities  for 
testing  the  endurance  and  faith  of  worshippers  on  stormv 
Sundays,  when  the  wind  off  the  sea  whistled  and  soughed 
through  the  exposed  building.  Nowadays  an  Aberdonian 
would  not  willingly  sit  with  open  door  when  a  storm  off 
Donmouth  proves  the  fury  of  its  blast.)  All  we  have  left  of 
this  third  church  are  two  piers  of  red  sandstone.  For  this 
third  effort,  the  Dean  and  Chapter  (John  BarbOur  being  an 
Archdeacon)  taxed  themselves'sixty  pounds  annually  for  ten 


4» 


years  ;  the  Bishop  surrendered  several  important  revenues  ; 
and  Pope  Gregory  XI.  granted  indulgences  to  all  who  would 
help  in  the  good  work  ;  and  yet  the  laity  seem  to  have 
remained  very  indifferent. 

Then  comes  the  pathetic  story  of  pious  Bishop  Elphin- 
stone,  "who  came  too  late  for  canonising."  He  finished 
the  central  tower  and  wooden  spire,  about  150  feet  in 
height  (begun  in  Leighton's  days),  a  famed  mark  at  sea, 
provided  fourteen  bells  for  this  four -story  tower  and 
covered  the  roof  with  lead.  The  son  "of  a  burgess," 
this  good  man  rose  to  greatest  eminence.  To  be  a  Chan- 
cellor and  Keeper  of  the  Privy  Seal,  Envoy  to  Louis 
XI.  and  the  Emperor  Maximilian  were  record  enough  ;  but 
Aberdeen  knows  him  better  as  the  founder  of  King's  College 
in  1498,  and  hundreds  of  poor  Scots  boys  have  risen  to 
eminence  in  every  succeeding  century  and  called  him 
blessed  for  his  gift.  In  its  chapel,  the  carved  screen  and 
woodwork  are  the  finest  in  Scotland.  Boece  praises  the 
tine  Latin  taught  in  the  Grammar  School,  and  the  good 
Bishop  advanced  the  scholars'  work.  The  Crown  Charter 
erecting  Old  Aberdeen  into  a  City  and  University  and 
Burgh  of  Barony  was  obtained  through  his  efforts.  He 
also  built  the  bridge  of  seven  arches  over  the  Uee  and  left 
a  sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds  for  the  same.  Scotland 
owed  her  first  printing  press  to  his  energy.  It  was  said  of 
the  Norman  Henry  I.  that  "he  never  smiled  again"  after 
the  sinking  of  the  White  Ship  and  death  of  his  only  son ; 
so,  too,  of  Bishop  Elphinstone,  who  was  never  seen  to 
smile  after  the  disaster  at  Flodden.  Of  him  it  has  been 
beautifully  said :  "  One  of  those  prelates,  who  in  their 
munificent  acts  and  their  laborious  and  saintly  lives  showed 
to  the  Scottish  Church  in  her  corruption  and  decay  the 
glorious  image  of  her  youth,"  and  the  writer,  Cosmo  Innes, 
is  a  most  impartial  historian. 

Passing  over  the  story  of  Gavin  Dunbar,  which  fittingly 
belongs  to  that  of  the  magnificent  ceiling,  we  find  that 
the  choir,  begun  by  Elphinstone,  was  never  finished.  The 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


49 


south  porch  was  known  as  the  marriage  door ;  and  the 
western  doorway,  opened  only  on  Palm  "Sunday,  on  the 
coming  of  the  Bishop,  or  for  great  occasions,  was  called  the 
procession  door.  Water  for  the  cleansing  of  the  sacred  vessels 
was  carried  through  the  north  door,  rather  interesting  points 
for  reflection  as  to  ecclesiastic  ceremony. 

Before  entering  into  the  story  of  its  destruction,  it  seems 
wise  just  to  recall  several  names  of  Church  dignitaries 
who  were  truly  good  men  and  earnest  Christians.  In  the 
thirteenth  century  we  have  Bishop  Ralph,  who  walked 
barefoot  throughout  his  diocese  preaching  the  gospel  elo- 
quently, and  who  died  in  1247  with  his  lips  murmuring 
"  I  was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me,  I  will  go  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord."  William  de  Deyn,  too,  who  succeeded 
the  second  Bishop  Kinninmond,  completed  his  buildings, 
endowed  the  vicarage  "and  reformed  his  clergy  who  run 
wild  during  the  long  civil  war."  Good  Adam  of  Tyning- 
hame  angered  a  prince  of  the  blood,  a  base-born  son  of 
Robert  II.  (the  first  Stewart  King),  and  this  young  man 
vowed  that  he  would  murder  the  prelate.  But  the  good 
Bishop  disarmed  his  enemy  by  baring  his  head,  saying 
calmly  :  "  If  this  be  what  you  seek,  take  it,  life  and  all ;  see, 
I  have  brought  it  to  thee."  Truly,  it  was  the  soft  answer 
that  turned  away  wrath.  Bishop  Adam  was  one  of  the 
good  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

Then  literature  blesses  Aberdeen  for  Barbour  and  Boece, 
who  were  members  of  its  Chapter,  and  here  was  written  the 
immortal  line — 

"O  Freedom  is  a  noble  thing," 
a  line  which  has  well  served  the  orators  and  patriots  of 
the  world.  Boece,  excellent  Latin  scholar  and  friend  of 
Erasmus,  was  the  first  Principal  of  King's  College,  and  his 
Lives  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Diocese  and  History  of  the  Scots 
were  distinctly  fine  efforts  in  prose  literature.  There  were 
saintly  men,  earnest  workers  for  the  progress  of  mankind, 
good  scholars,  and  zealous  teachers,  in  the  Latin  Church, 
and  educated  Scots  should  never  forget  this. 

5 


50  OLD  ABERDEEN 

In  1534,  during  the  English  invasion  which  devastated  so 
many  abbeys,  Bishop  Stewart,  who  built  the  Chapter  House, 
was  robbed  of  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  altar,  and  by  1559, 
the  troublous  times  had  come  to  stay.  Indeed,  after  many 
attempts  and  seemingly  great  struggle  for  existence,  this 
church  of  St.  Machar  came  to  its  full  heritage  of  dignity 
and  beauty  "only  twenty  years"  ahead  of  the  Reformation, 
when  its  newly  filled  cup  was  dashed  to  the  ground.  The 
spire,  like  human  life,  fulfilled  the  allotted  span  of  three 
score  and  ten  years  ;  the  lead  was  stripped  from  the  roof 
to  make  bullets ;  the  bells  and  other  furnishings  were 
shipped  to  Holland,  "  but  that  wicked  ship  "  sank  with  all 
on  board  within  sight  of  land.  Eight  years  later  the  Privy 
Council  ordered  the  remainder  of  the  lead  "  to  be  publicly 
sold  for  the  support  of  the  army."  Cromwell's  soldiers 
built  a  fort  from  the  stones  of  the  choir  in  1652,  and  so 
weakened  the  supports  of  the  great  tower,  that  in  1688  it  fell 
and  ruined  the  transepts.  So  now  we  see  only  the  nave  of 
five  bays  with  pointed  arches,  rounded  pillars,  and  with 
single  clerestory  windows.  There  is  no  triforium.  A  fine 
massive  west  front,  "...  entirely  built  with  granite  except 
the  spires,  one  of  the  most  impressive  and  imposing  struc- 
tures in  Scotland.  It  is  extremely  plain,  not  a  single  scrap  of 
carving  visible  anywhere — a  veritable  piece  of  Doric  work 
depending  for  its  effects  on  its  just  proportion  and  the  mass 
of  its  granite  masonry.  Above  this  doorway  is  one  of  the 
most  striking  features  of  the  composition — the  seven  lofty 
narrow  windows,  about  26  feet  in  height  and  each  crowned 
with  a  round  and  cusped  arch."  The  two  towers,  although 
113  feet  in  height,  look  stunted  owing  to  their  spiked 
octagonal  shape. 

As  we  stand  outside,  we  realise  how  beautiful,  how  quiet, 
and  how  quaint  is  our  environment.  St.  Andrews  may  be 
the  "  Oxford  of  Scotland,"  but  not  there  can  we  now  feel 
the  mediaeval  air  and  tone  that  here  seem  to  enwrap  us. 
Again,  in  no  other  Scottish  city  do  we  hear  in  daily  use  so 
many  familiar  words  and  names  to  recall  for  us  Franco- 


OLD  ABERDEF.X 


Scottish  sympathies  in  earlier  days,  as  well  as  our  "  Scoto- 
Franco "  form  of  culture. 

Here  there  is  no  Cathedral  Close  as  in  England,  but  the 
student  in  his  bright  red  gown  of  frieze  with  velvet  collar 
crosses  the  Chanonry  (Fr.  "Chanoine"  and  not  "Canon") 
towards  King's  College,  whose  fine  stone  crown  bears  out 
its  name  in  form  of  architecture  confined  to  Scotland  with 
one  exception  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne.  Here  and  there  we 
have  a  peep  of  the  winding  river  Don,  and  near  by,  as  it 
narrows  into  a  deep  dark  channel,  it  is  crossed  by  the  Auld 
Brig  o'  Balgownie,  so  famed  in  the  prophecy  of  Thomas 
the  Rhymer : — 

"  Brig  o'  Balgownie,  black's  yer  wa' 
Wi'  a  wife's  ae  son  and  a  mare's  ae  foal, 
Down  ye'll  fa'." 

A  prophecy  set  to  defiance,  spoiled  as  the  country-folks  say, 
by  the  reckless  Lord  Byron,  one  of  the  many  "  mad 
Gordons  "  Aberdeen  has  known  so  well.  Many  footsteps, 
sacred  and  profane,  have  crossed  the  old  bridge  to  and  from 
the  Cathedral.  From  the  river  banks  we  may  recall 
Ramsay's  enthusiastic  impression  :  "  Viewed  as  it  now 
stands,  although  sadly  shorn  of  its  original  glory,  the 
Cathedral  is  a  highly  picturesque  and  interesting  object. 
The  aspect  of  its  western  end  with  its  noble  window  of 
seven  lights,  flanked  by  lofty  towers  capped  by  those  quaint 
old  steeples,  is  singularly  beautiful  and  striking — more 
especially  when  glowing  in  the  mellowed  ray  of  the  western 
sun,  and  partly  shaded  by  the  venerable  tiJees,  which  so 
beautify  and  solemnise  the  scene,  redeeming  the  dreariness 
of  the  graveyard,  and,  by  their  obedience  to  the  law  of  the 
seasons,  instructive  by  symbolising  the  change  from  mortal 
to  immortal  life.  None  but  the  veriest  clod  of  the  valley 
can  be  uninfluenced  by  the  spell  which  binds  one  in  the  rapt 
contemplation  of  so  fair  a  scene,  of  which  the  fascination  is 
crowned  by  the  swelling  music  of  the  Don."  We  cannot 
leave  its  precincts  without  recalling  that  here,  indeed,  is 
one  of — 

"The  shrines  where  art  and  genius  high 
Have  laboured  for  eternity." 


52 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


HERALDIC  CEILING  OF  ST.  MACHAR'S 

"  What  booteth  it  to  have  been  rich  alive  ? 
What  to  be  great  ?    What  to  be  gracious  ? 
When  after  death  no  token  doth  survive 
Of  former  beeing  in  this  mortall  houss, 
But  sleepes  in  dust  dead  and  inglorious, 
Like  beast,  whose  breath  but  in  his  nostrils  is 
And  hath  no  hope  of  happiness  or  blis. 
How  manie  great  ones  may  remembered  be 
Which  in  their  daies  most  famouslie  did  flourish 
Of  whom  no  worde  we  heare  nor  signe  now  see, 
But  as  things  wipt  out  with  a  sponge  do  perishe 
Because  they  living  cared  not  to  -cherishe 
No  gentle  wits,  through  pride  or  covestise, 
Which  might  their  names  forever  memorise." 

Spexser's  Ruins  of  Time. 

The  Latin  Church  can  claim  in  Bishops  Elphinstone  and 
Gavin  Dunbar  two  of  the  best  and  wisest  of  men  ;  and 
Protestants  and  Protestantism  have  benefited  to  the  full 
from  their  legacies  and  life-work. 

Had  Dunbar  not  suffered  from  propinquity  to  Elphin- 
stone, we  would  to-day  grant  him  highest  honours,  for  he 
fulfilled  to  the  letter  his  own  avowal  "that  the  prelates  of 
the  Church  were  not  the  Masters  of  the  patrimony  of  the 
Cross,  but  its  guardians  and  administrators."  Hence  his 
endowment  of  a  Hospital  for  the  shelter  and  support  of 
twelve  poor  folk,  and  his  persistent  demands  that  the 
moneys  bequeathed  for  charitable  purposes  should  be  so 
spent.  He  had  compiled  the  magnificent  copy  of  the 
Epistles,  now  preserved  in  the  University,  and  written  at 
Antwerp  at  his  own  expense ;  "  he  did  perfite  the  two 
lesser  steeples,  ceiled  the  church  and  built  the  South  aisle 
in  1522."  This  church  ceiling  will  keep  his  memory  ever 
green  ;  it  was  his  glory,  it  is  his  monument,  and  Spenser's 
lines  find  emphasis  in  his  exemplary  life. 

With  granite  as  a  material,  the  difficulties  of  constructing 
an  overarched  roof  of  stone  were  insurmountable,  and  yet 
such  an  open  timber  roof  as  is  that  in  King's  College  Chapel 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


53 


was  not  deemed  expansive  or  effective  enough.  The  roof, 
treated  in  conception  as  "the  sky,"  had  become  popular,  so 
Gavin  Dunbar  introduced  the  flat  oak  panelled  ceiling,  and, 
to  relieve  its  heaviness,  emblazoned  thereon  "  forty-eight 
shields,  glittering  with  the  heraldries  of  the  Pope,  the 
Emperor,  St.  Margaret,  the  Kings  and  Princes  of  Christen- 
dom, the  Bishops  and  Earls  of  Scotland";  in  Hamlet's 
words — 

"  This  brave  o'erhanging  firmament, 
This  majestical  roof,  fretted  with  golden  stars." 

A  national  monument,  too,  of  which  every  Scot  is  and 
may  well  be  proud,  for  it  represents  Scotland  as  an 
independent  nation  taking  her  heraldic  place  by  right, 
not  by  sufferance.  Here  the  lion,  rampant  in  his  own 
domain,  is  placed  under  the  arched  or  imperial  crown,  in 
line  with  the  arms  of  Pope  and  Emperor,  "  the  two  great 
lights,"  as,  saith  the  chronicler  Wyntoun,  recalling  Dunbar's 
lines  in  "The  Thistle  and  the  Rose"  : — 

"  Reid  of  his  cullour  as  is  the  ruby  glance. 
On  field  of  gold  he  stude  full  mychtely, 
With  '  flour  delvcis '  sirculit  (encircled)  lustely." 

In  three  lines  of  sixteen  are  the  shields  arranged,  that  of 
Pope  Leo  X.  in  the  centre  at  the  east  end,  followed  by  the 
various  Church  dignitaries,  ably  supported  on  the  right  by 
the  Emperor,  as  leader  of  the  various  foreign  kings  and 
princes ;  while  on  the  left  is  James  V.,  as  leader  of  Scottish 
princes  and  nobles.  Although  Mrs.  Oliphant  has  made  us 
familiar  with  the  Medici  family  in  her  Makers  of  Florence,  it 
is  hard  to  realise  that  in  Aberdeen,  and  nowhere  else  in 
Britain,  may  we  see  the  Medici  arms  of  Leo.  X.  emblazoned 
on  the  ceiling  of  a  Presbyterian  church — a  church,  too, 
which  by  the  irony  of  fate  was  only  completed  for  the 
Reformers  ;  as  Milton  expresses  it  so  finely  in — 

"  Celestial  armoring,  shields,  helms  and  spears 
Hung  high,  with  diamond  flaming  and  with  gold." 


54  OLD  ABERDEEN 

It  is  also  most  interesting  that  Leo's  arms  depict  the 
special  privileges  granted  by  Louis  XI.  of  France,  in  1465, 
to  Piero  de  Medici,  grandfather  of  Leo  X.  The  golden 
shield,  surmounted  by  the  triple  crown  on  red  cushion,  is 
crossed  by  a  gold  and  silver  key.  The  five  red  balls  flank 
a  blue  one  in  chief,  charged  with  the  three  golden  lilies  of 
France,  "  in  recognisance  of  the  league  and  fidelity  wherein 
he  promised  to  stand  bound  to  serve  the  King  at  his  own 
charges."  But  on  his  pontifical  seal,  the  Medici  arms  are 
given  without  the  French  lilies.  As  it  was  from  Leo  X. 
that  Gavin  Dunbar  received  his  promotion  to  the  See  of 
Aberdeen,  we  can  readily  account  for  the  central  promi- 
nence of  the  Papal  arms. 

Immediately  following  it  is  the  shield  of  Archbishop 
Andrew  Forman,  of  St.  Andrews,  of  whom  Pitscottie 
records  an  absurd  anecdote  which,  better  than  history, 
illustrates  the  scholarship  of  the  time.  Having  to  entertain 
at  dinner  the  Pope  and  Cardinals,  on  saying  grace,  the 
Bishop,  "  who  was  not  ane  guid  schollar,  nor  had  not 
guid  Latine,"  was  perplexed  and  put  out  by  the  responses 
of  the  Italians.  Losing  patience,  as  well  as  presence  of 
mind,  "  he  wist  not  weill  how  to  proceed  fordward,  bot 
happened  in  guid  Scottis,  in  this  manner,  sayand  quhilk 
they  understuid  not:  'The  divil  I  give  yow,  all  false 
cardinallis,  to  in  nomine  Patris,  Filii  et  Spiritus  Sancti.' 
Amen,  quoth  they.  Then  the  Bishop  and  his  men  leugh 
(laughed)  and  all  the  cardinallis  themselffis." 

Beaton,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  and  afterwards  of  St. 
Andrews,  comes  third.  We  honour  him  as  the  founder 
of  St.  Mary's  College  at  St.  Andrews,  and  we  recall 
that  he  officiated  at  the  marriage  of  James  V.  with 
Mary  of  Lorraine.  He  was  also  the  uncle  of  the  brilliant 
Cardinal  Beaton.  Alas !  the  facetious  Pitscottie  had  no 
reverence  for  dignitaries.  He  tells  that  in  wordy  war 
with  Gawain  Douglas,  Beaton's  corselet  shook,  and  Gavin 
said,  "  My  Lord,  your  conscience  is  not  guid,  for  I  hear 
it  clattering." 


OLD  ABERDEEX 


Sir  David  Lindsay,  too,  sharpened  his  pen  over  this 
worthy  churchman  in — 

"  The  Archbishop  of  Sanct  Androus,  James  Betoun, 
Chancellare  and  Primate  in  power  pastorall, 
Clam,  nyxt  the  kyng,  moste  heych  in  this  regioun, 
The  ledder  schuke,  he  lap,  and  gat  ane  fall." 

Dunkeld  ranks  next  in  order,  and  Douglas,  "  ane  richt, 
nobill  and  worshipful  clerk,"  represents  it  with  the  ever 
popular  and  familiar  red  heart  on  a  white  field. 

The  arms  of  Aberdeen,  Moray,  Ross,  Brechin,  Caithness 
(showing  the  /esse  cheque  of  the  Royal  Stewarts),  Galloway, 
Dunblane,  Lismore  or  Arygle,  Orkney,  The  Isles,  The  Prior 
of  St.  Andrews,  follow  in  order  ;  and  bringing  up  the  rear 
is  that  of  the  University  and  King's  College  —  "a  shield 
azure,  an  open  book  proper  within  an  orle  argent" — 
seemingly  suggested  by  those  of  the  University  of  Paris. 
An  interesting  array,  as  to-day  we  have  only  eight  cathedral 
churches  in  existence. 

The  trio  at  the  west  end  corresponds  in  style  to  that  of  the 
east  end  ;  for  the  Pope's  line  of  spiritual  power  fittingly  ter- 
minates in  the  University,  representing  intellectual  power, 
and  it  again  is  flanked  by  Aberdeen  and  Old  Aberdeen,  cor- 
porate bodies  endowed  with  temporal  power.  The  Church 
shields  are  slightly  in  advance  of  the  royal  and  noble 
shields ;  all  alike  are  carved  in  low  relief,  and  on  an  escrol 
or  ribbon  of  lighter  tone  than  the  ceiling  is  the  official  title 
in  Latin,  in  black  lettering  with  initial  letter  in  red. 

The  Royal  Line  is  led  by  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  as  the 
leading  secular  power  in  Christendom,  "  the  greatest  monarch 
of  the  memorable  sixteenth  century,  and  the  most  famous  of 
the  successors  of  Charlemagne."  He  presides  with  double- 
headed  eagle,  sable  armed  gules  on  a  gold  shield,  above 
which  is  the  Imperial  crown.  The  German  Emperors 
assumed  the  eagle  as  a  device  because  of  their  claims  to 
be  successors  to  the  Romans,  and  also  because  the  eagle 
was  Pagan  as  well  as  Christian.    In  The  Talisman  we  may 


SC- 


OLD ABERDEEN 


recall  Sir  Walter's  interesting  chapter  on  the  struggle  for 
precedence  between  the  eagle  and  the  lion.  The  eagle  was, 
as  Dante  says — 

"The  ensign  of  the  world." 

And  Ariosto  expresses  history  as  well  as  beauty  in  his 
lines — 

"  The  bird  that  once  in  air  could  Jove  sustain." 

Ranking  second  to  the  Emperor,  and,  we  may  safely 
presume,  yielding  precedence  to  him  with  very  bad  grace, 
is  the  unfortunate  yet  chivalrous  Francis  I.  of  France, 
who,  as  "  King  of  the  Franks,"  also  claimed  descent  from 
Charlemagne,  and  who  "lost  all  but  honour"  at  Pavia. 
On  his  azure  shield  are  the  three  golden  lilies,  reduced  to 
that  number  by  Charles  VI.,  and  called  by  Ariosto  "i  Gigli 
d'  oro."  Planche  tells  us  that  Louis  VII.  was  the  first  to 
use  them  on  a  seal,  and  Voltaire  ironically  called  them 
spear-heads,  although  "testimony  in  favour  of  the  iris  is 
so  strong  as  almost  to  set  this  question  at  rest."  Shakespeare 
and  Spenser  call  them  Flower-de-Luces.  Among  the  re- 
cently published  National  MSS.  of  Scotland  an  autograph 
letter  of  Francis  to  James  V.  is  expressive  of  warmest  friend- 
ship, for  Francis,  however  mistrustful  of  Henry  VIII.,  could 
always  rely  on  his  Scottish  ally. 

The  Emperor  again  appears  as  King  of  Spain,  or  rather 
of  Leon  and  Castile,  and  the  shield  shows  the  red  lions  on 
white  fields  and  castles  argent  with  the  crown  surmounting 
all.  Ford  tells  us  in  his  history  that  "Charles  was  a  Fleming 
by  birth,  an  Austrian  at  heart,  and  wasted  on  German 
politics  the  blood  and  gold  of  Spain,  in  which  country  he 
was  called  foreigner." 

Although  Margaret  Tudor,  daughter  of  Henry  VII.,  was 
Queen-mother  when  this  ceiling  was  decorated  (about  1521), 
Flodden  disaster  was  still  far  too  fresh  in  Scottish  hearts  to 
grant  Henry  VIII.  ought  but  barest,  baldest  courtesies.  So 
he  follows  the  King  of  France.  In  his  newly  acquired  title 
of     Defender  of  the  Faith,"  granted  him  by  Leo  X.  shortly 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


57 


before  the  Pope's  death  in  1521,  we  most  truly  realise  the 
mutability  of  all  things  human,  and  also  that  in  Henry's 
case  Papal  decrees  were  decidedly  fallible.  Here  are  their 
coats  of  arms,  within  a  few  feet  of  each  other — the  defier 
and  the  defied — the  one  quite  as  arrogant  as  the  other,  so 
far  as  liberty  of  conscience  in  religion  was  concerned. 
How  little  could  Leo  dream  that  in  honouring  Henry  he 
was  honouring 

"  The  Majestic  lord 
That  broke  the  bonds  of  Rome," 

for  Henry  VIII.  is  the  first  King  to  take  the  title  of 
"Majesty,"  his  predecessors  being  "Sovereign  Lord"  or 
"  Highness,"  and  even  1  His  Grace."  How  true,  too,  that 
"A  straw  shows  how  the  wind  blows,"  for  Franco-Scottish 
sympathy  was  too  strong  to  grant  Henry  the  fleur-de-lis  on 
his  shield,  first  quartered  on  the  English  arms  by  Edward 
III.,  and  retained  thereon  down  to  the  union  of  Ireland 
with  Great  Britain  in  1801.  So  the  three  leopards  or 
lions  passant— for  the  lions'  attitude  here  is  that  of  the 
leopard,  argent  on  a  red  shield  with  crown — represent 
Henry.  In  early  heraldry  the  attitude  rampant  belongs 
always  to  the  lions,  passant  to  the  leopards  ;  and  until 
the  fifteenth  century,  both  in  France  and  England,  lions 
passant  were  often  called  leopards.  More  interesting  still 
is  the  fact,  not  generally  known,  that  the  leopards  were 
personal  to  the  Plantagenet  kings,  who  inherited  them  as 
Dukes  of  Normandy  and  Guienne.  So,  by  England's 
adoption  of  the  same,  she  ranks  herself  as  an  appanage 
to  Normandy,  and  therefore,  the  lilies,  from  Edward  III. 
to  George  III.,  should  have  taken  precedence  of  the  leo- 
pards. The  first  appearance  of  the  three  is  on  a  shield  of 
Richard  Cceur  de  Lion,  but  an  earlier  shield  shows  only 
one,  and  some  authorities  claim  it  to  be  the  Lion  of  Judah, 
acquired  by  him  as  a  crusader.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the 
family  arms  of  the  Plantagenets  have  become  national  to 
the  exclusion  of  Tudor,  Stewart,  and  Guelph  arms.  Scot- 
land is  ahead  of  England  in  this  respect,  her  one  lion 


58 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


rampant  being  national  from  the  Celtic  dynasty  in  the 
reign  of  William  the  Lion,  and  neither  Bruce's  nor  the 
Stewarts'  bearings  effected  any  change  whatever. 

Christian  II.,  "the  hero  of  the  North,"  follows  Henry. 
Since  James  V.  was  grandson  of  Margaret,  a  Danish 
princess,  we  can  easily  appreciate  his  desire  to  honour 
Christian.  This  Margaret,  Queen  of  James  III.,  is  believed 
by  many  to  be  the  lady  for  whom  Sir  Patrick  Spens  sailed 
"  to  Norroway  o'er  the  faim."  If  Christian's  arms  could  be 
held  as  representative  of  his  character  they  are  singularly 
appropriate,  for  the  lion,  rampant  and  crowned,  holds  in  his 
forepaws  a  most  cruel-looking  battle-axe,  and  there  is  also 
a  curiously  twisted  effect  about  his  tail  that  seems  to  inspire 
respect. 

Now  we  come  to  a  change  in  titles.  Hitherto  the  kings 
have  been  of  peoples.  Louis  II.  of  Hungary — not  of  the 
Hungarians — leads  off  the  territories  found  in  South-eastern 
Europe,  whilst  the  peoples  are  in  the  North  and  West — 
a  curiously  fine  distinction,  and  one  not  of  apparently  great 
importance  to  us. 

The  Magyars  of  Hungary  are  the  only  non-Aryans  in  the 
lists,  and  at  Louis'  death,  in  1526,  the  Turks  took  and  kept 
possession  for  160  years.  The  red  and  argent  barred  shield 
represents  the  four  rivers  of  Hungary  that  "thwart"  the 
country,  according  to  fable.  Most  interesting,  as  well  as 
beautiful,  are  the  shields  of  Emmanuel,  King  of  Portugal, 
and  John  his  son.  In  Manoel's  reign,  Vasco  da  Gama,  the 
great  navigator,  made  Portugal  renowned,  and  it  was  John 
who  substituted  for  Cape  of  Storms  that  happier  title,  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  so  precious  a  jewel  in  the  English  crown 
to-day.  Camoens,  in  epic  verse,  has  celebrated  for  all  time 
his  three  great  countrymen  ;  and  so  we  look  upon  this 
shield  in  blue  and  white  with  heightened  feelings  of 
respect. 

On  a  white  field,  enclosed  in  embattled  bordure,  is  a  cross 
of  the  Maltese  shape,  formed  of  five  blue  shields,  pierced 
again  cross-wise  by  five  small  circles,  significant  of  the  five 


59 


wounds  of  our  Blessed  Saviour,  and  adopted  by  Alphonso  I., 
in  1 139,  after  his  defeat  of  five  Moorish  Kings. 

Arragon  follows  Portugal,  the  Emperor  making  his 
bow  for  the  third  time,  under  the  title  of  Carlos  I.,  and  its 
effective  quartered  shield  shows  the  eagles  twice  with  two 
quarters  of  red  and  white  stripes,  "  or,  argent  and  gules," 
in  the  language  of  heraldry.  A  legend  tells  that  in  873, 
Geoffrey,  Count  of  Barcelona,  "  returning  all  bloody  from 
battle,"  the  King  of  Spain  dipped  his  fingers  in  the  Count's 
blood  and  drew  red  lines  upon  his  shield.  Another  version 
is  that  "  Wilfred  of  the  Hairy  Feet  "  did  so  after  his  bloody 
contest  with  the  Normans. 

Cyprus,  Navarre,  and  Sicily  follow  in  line  ;  but  Poland — 
brave,  dismembered  Poland — deserves  notice,  for  Sigis- 
mund  I.,  who  here  represents  it,  had  only  one  successor, 
and  then  came  disastrous  events  which  led  up  to  complete 
dismemberment.  After  such  a  bewildering  array  of  heraldic, 
but  none  the  less  "queer  looking  beasts" — rampant,  passant, 
gules,  embattled,  or,  argent,  azure,  bars,  paly,  &c,  no  sooner 
learned  in  one  case  than  confused  in  the  next — we  welcome 
as  a  dear  useful  old  friend,  a  horse,  steady  on  his  four  feet, 
and  harnessed  with  saddle,  bridle,  stirrups,  and  all  the  usual 
commonplace  buckles  and  necessary  straps  thereof.  A 
quiet,  sober-looking  beast,  with  his  head  and  tail  peaceful 
as  ever  were  those  of  cob  or  cab-horse.  There  were 
originally  an  armed  knight  on  the  horse's  back  and  an 
eagle  over  its  head,  with  a  patriarchal  cross  for  Lithuania  ; 
but  the  white  horse  alone,  on  his  red  shield,  is  restful  to  the 
eye — and  peace  be  with  him. 

Bohemia  is  represented  by  Louis  1.,  whom  we  have 
already  treated  as  Louis  II.,  of  Hungary. 

Another  compliment  to  France  comes  in  the  arms  of 
Charles,  Duke  of  Bourbon  and  Vendome,  grandfather  of 
Henry  IV.  Mary,  his  daughter,  was  then  spoken  of  as  a 
likely  consort  lor  the  young  King  James  V.,  and  although 
the  match  was  never  made,  we  can  appreciate  the  courtesy. 

Still  another  courtesy  to  a  ducal  house.    Mary,  Queen 


6o 


OLD  ABERDEEN 


of  James  II.,  was  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Gueldres,  so  his 
arms  rank  as  fifteenth.  Last  of  all  is  placed  the  shield  of 
old  Aberdeen — a  golden  pot  of  white  lilies,  one  in  bud, 
one  full  bloom  and  one  half  bloom,  "stalked  and  leaved 
proper,  argent."  On  the  pot  are  seen  three  salmon,  arranged 
as  in  a  net.  The  town  being  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  accounts  for  her  arms — the  lilies  ;  and  the 
fish  represent  the  product  of  the  river  Don,  although  in 
this  it  was  behind  its  sister  stream,  the  Dee. 

Heading  the  third  line  we  see  Regis  Celsitudinis,  or 
"  Highness,"  the  title  taken  by  James  V.,  with  his  scutcheon 
of  "The  Ruddy  Lion  ramped  in  gold"  ;  and  although  lions 
as  a  family  could  never  be  ranked  as  meek  in  looks,  surely 
the  Scottish  lion  rampant,  with  prolonged  clawlike  feet, 
highly  twisted  and  curled  tail,  grinning  mouth,  and  tongue 
improperly  if  not  impertinently  displayed,  excels  in  fierce 
aspect  all  lions  rampant  in  other  lands.  Tradition  tells  that 
from  the  days  of  Fergus  he  comes — early  in  the  sixth 
century — and  if  so,  then  he  has  certainly  gathered  to  him- 
self the  ferocity  of  the  ages.  Alas  !  his  ferocity  availed 
nothing  at  Flodden,  for  since  that  fatal  field  the  Howards 
of  Norfolk,  as  descendants  of  Surrey,  the  English  leader, 
have  added  to  their  arms  "a  demi-lion  rampant  pierced 
with  an  arrow."    Or,  as  Surrey  himself  says — 

"  That  Lyon  placed  on  our  silver  bend 
Which  as  a  trophy  beautifies  our  shield." 

King  James  was  still  a  minor  when  his  shield  was  so 
placed  on  high,  but  already  he  gave  promise  of  great 
scholarship.  In  Spanish  archives  are  letters  telling  of  his 
wonderful  linguistic  talents  —  Latin,  French,  German, 
Flemish,  Italian,  Spanish — and  he  was  also  the  last  king 
to  speak  and  encourage  the  use  of  Gaelic,  the  language  of 
"  Albyn."  In  1537,  Paul  III.  bestowed  on  him  the  title  of 
4t  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  a  chaplet  fallen  from  Henry's 
head.  Few  kings  have  been  so  beloved  by  poets  of  Euro- 
pean fame  as  was  James  V.    Ariosto  again  and  again  refers 


Queen  Margarets  Coat  of  Anns. 


7V  /ace  fafjl  L>  i . 


OLD  ABERDEEX 


61 


to  him  as  Zerlino,  and  one  line  sufficiently  expresses  his 
terms  of  praise — 

"  For  Nature  made  him  and  then  broke  the  mould." 

Ronsard  was  his  page,  and  in  after  life  sang  of  him  as 
the 

"  Flower  of  his  Eye," 

whilst  Sir  David  Lindsay  had  no  satire  for  his  royal 
master — 

"  I,  when  thou  wes  young,  I  bure  thee  in  my  arms, 
Full  tenderly,  till  thou  begowth  to  gaing  ; 
And  in  thy  bed  oft  happit  thee  full  warme, 
With  lute  in  hand,  syne  sweetly  to  thee  sang." 

Following  those  of  the  King,  one  naturally  expects  to  see 
the  arms  of  the  Queen-mother,  for  there  was  no  Queen 
Consort  till  1537  ;  but  Margaret  Tudor  was  not  popular  in 
Scotland,  notwithstanding  Scott's  pathetic  picture  of  her 
in  "  Linlithgow  Bower."  She  offended  Gavin  Dunbar  by 
putting  him  in  ward  in  1524,  so  he  would  not  favour  her 
cause  ;  and  her  husbands  almost  matched  in  number  her 
brother  Henry's  wives.  We  seldom  realise  that  by  her 
marriage  with  Douglas,  Earl  of  Angus,  she  became  the 
mother  of  a  daughter,  who  married  Lennox,  and  their  son 
was  Darnley,  her  grandson,  just  as  was  the  beautiful  Queen 
Mary,  his  wife,  her  granddaughter,  so  that  James  VI. 
ascended  the  English  throne  by  right  of  both  father  and 
mother. 

Her  place  by  right  was  given  to  another  Margaret,  better 
and  fairer  as  are  all  agreed,  the  good  queen  of  Malcolm 
Caenmore  who  overthrew  Macbeth — Sanctissime  Margarete, 
canonised  in  1249  by  Pope  Innocent  IV'.,  and  sharer  with 
St.  Andrew  of  the  patronage  of  the  kingdom.  To  this  day 
there  are  few  Scottish  families  without  a  Margaret.  Her 
shield  is  the  only  one  chosen  from  a  sentimental  point  of 
view,  for  as  she  was  grandniece  of  Edward  the  Confessor, 
his  arms  are  given  to  her.    On  a  rich  blue  shield  is  a 


62  OLD  ABERDEEN 

golden-flowered  cross  with  five  birds  (doves)  ;  or,  in 
heraldic  language,  "Azure  a  cross  floretty,  between  five 
martlets  or."  No  need  to  repeat  here  her  story  which 
belongs  to  that  of  Dunfermline  Abbey. 

The  royal  Duke  of  Albany  follows  with  gorgeous 
quartered  shield,  showing  "  three-legged  "  arms  of  the  Isle 
of  Man  ;  then  Dunbar,  Earl  of  March,  with  white  lion 
rampant,  surrounded  by  thirteen  red  roses  (a  very  improb- 
able situation)  ;  Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray,  comes  next,  with 
three-tasselled  cushions  within  a  royal  tressure  (not  warlike 
in  significance  surely)  ;  and  Douglas,  Earl  of  Douglas,  with 
that  bloody  heart  and  three  white  stars  recalling — 

"The  blodye  harte  in  the  Dovvglas  arms, 
Hys  standerde  stode  on  hye, 
That  every  man  myght  full  well  knowe, 
By  side  stode  starres  thre." 

Then  follows  Angus  (grandson  of  "  Bell-the-Cat "),  who 
married  Queen  Margaret  Tudor,  showing  an  effective  white 
cinque  foil  on  scarlet  shield  ;  next  the  beautiful  blue  shield 
of  Mar,  with  six  gold  cross  crosslets.  Lord  Crawford  says 
of  Mar,  "It  is  the  only  survivor  of  the  ancient,  I  may  say 
prehistoric,  marmaerships  of  Scotland,  and  can  distinctly  be 
traced  to  early  Celtic  and  Pictish  times." 

Sutherland,  showing  three  gold  stars  on  red  shield;  and 
Crawford,  with  lions  rampant  in  two  quarters  and  fess 
cheque  of  the  Royal  Stewarts,  produces  a  fine  combination 
of  red  and  blue  and  white.  The  Gordons  of  Huntly,  with 
boars'  heads,  lions'  heads,  and  crescents  in  three ;  and 
Campbell  of  Argyle,  who,  as  Baron  of  Arran  and  Lorn, 
was  obliged  to  provide  a  ship  for  the  king  in  time  of  war, 
has  a  very  effective  shield  in  black  and  white,  showing 
galleys  and  gyronnys  (crosses). 

Of  great  historic  interest  is  the  Errol  shield  ;  white,  with 
three  red  shields  thereon,  recalling  the  story  of  Luncarty, 
when  the  father  and  two  sons  threshed  the  Danes  with  flails 
and  were  granted  arms  thus  showing  on  the  shield  how  they 
had  saved  the  country. 


63 


Keith,  Earl  Marischal,  whose  fine  old  castle  of  Dunnottar 
was  the  scene  of  the  Covenanters'  imprisonment  as  described 
in  Old  Mortality,  has  arms  like  those  of  Aragon,  only  King 
Malcolm  II.,  grandfather  of  King  Duncan,  dipped  his  fingers 
in  the  blood  to  mark  the  warrior's  shield  !  Marischal  College 
was  founded  by  the  family. 

Hepburn,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  grandfather  of  the  notorious 
Bothwell,  closes  the  nobles'  line,  and  is  followed  by  Aber- 
deen, with  its  three  towers,  argent,  windows  and  ports, 
sable,  within  double  tressure  counter  flowered  argent. 

The  frieze  around  the  nave  is  carved  in  Saxon  black  letter 
with  initial  letters  in  red  of  the  names  of  the  Bishops  of 
Aberdeen  and  the  Kings  of  Scotland  in  succession — 
another  proof,  if  needed,  of  how  very  dear  to  Scottish 
hearts  is  history  in  every  form.  Robert  the  Bruce's  reign 
is  dated  from  1296,  and  John  Balliol  is  entirely  ignored. 
He  was  "Toom  tabard"  (empty  coat)  in  his  lifetime,  so 
why  keep  an  empty  record  ? 

There  are  hundreds  of  tourists  who  annually  visit  Aber- 
deen en  route  for  Balmoral  and  Braemar,  and  who  pass  bv 
in  ignorance  of  the  existence  of  this  cathedral  and  heraldic 
ceiling,  with  its  story  of  glorious  heraldry  ere  yet  "villainous 
salt  petre  "  had  robbed  warfare  of  the  picturesque.  Ere  we 
leave  its  walls  we  shall  be  impressed  anew  with  Shakespere's 
wonderful  insight  into  men's  hearts  and  feelings  as  expressed 
in  Bolinbroke's  indignant  protest — 

"  From  my  own  windows  torn  my  household  coat, 
Razed  out  my  impress,  leaving  me  no  sign 
To  show  the  world  I  am  a  gentleman." 


DUNBLANE 


St.  Blaxe.  Refouxded 
7th  Century.  1150  a.d. 

"  He  was  no  common  man  who  designed  the  Cathedral  of  Dunblane. 
I  know  nothing  so  perfect  in  its  simplicity,  and  so  beautiful,  so  far  as 
it  reaches,  in  all  the  Gothic  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  And  just  in 
proportion  to  his  power  of  mind,  that  man  was  content  to  work  under 
nature's  teaching,  and,  instead  cf  putting  merely  formal  dog-tooth, 
as  everybody  else  did  at  that  time,  he  went  down  to  the  woody 
banks  of  the  sweet  river,  beneath  the  rocks  of  which  he  was  building, 
and  took  up  a  few  of  the  fallen  leaves  that  lay  by  it,  and  he  set  them 
on  his  arch,  side  by  side  for  ever." 

SUCH  was  the  testimony  of  John  Ruskin  in  his  lectures 
on  Architecture  and  Painting,  delivered  in  Edin- 
burgh, and  no  one  can  gainsay  Ruskin's  position  as 
an  apostle  of  the  beautiful  or  impugn  his  standard 
of  the  ideally  artistic  in  architecture. 

Of  Dunblane  Cathedral,  too,  we  may  quote  truly,  "  Beauti- 
ful for  situation,"  ranking  it  first  in  this  respect  over  all 
Scottish  cathedrals.  Its  wooded  heights  "on  the  banks  of 
Allan  Water,"  and  the  rocky  bed  of  the  tumbling  river,  form 
fit  setting  to  a  noble  building.  For  Dunblane  held  un- 
challenged place  as  one  of  "  the  brave  kirks  o'  braid 
Scotland  "  during  the  Middle  Ages ;  and  since  the  perfect 
restoration  of  its  Nave,  1888-93,  it  again  holds  first  rank. 
Men  of  many  minds  and  manners — architects,  artists,  anti- 
quarians, churchmen — have  time  and  again  throughout  the 
centuries  declared  their  deep  interest  in  the  form  and  age 
64 


DUX  B  LAX  E 


65 


of  its  Tower,  the  beauty  of  its  Nave  and  Choir,  the  fine  lines 
of  its  bays,  and  the  exquisite  carvings  of  its  stalls.  Nor  is 
its  story,  whether  traditional  or  historical,  of  lesser  interest. 

It  is  the  church  on  Blane's  Hill,  another  living  record  of 
and  testimony  to  the  power  of  that  early  Celtic  Church, 
invisible  rather  than  visible  to  men's  minds  nowadays,  and 
yet,  as  with  the  things  unseen  but  felt,  an  ever  present 
influence  in  the  land,  reminding  us  through  its  name  that 
there  were  Scottish  Saints  in  the  early  days  ;  men  of  simple 
faith,  single-minded  zeal,  self-denying  life  ;  men  who  were 
teachers  and  guides  rather  than  churchmen  to  our  earliest 
fathers,  ere  Scotland  had  received  the  name  by  which  it 
was  to  become  familiar  to  the  nations.  After  twelve  hun- 
dred years,  we,  their  descendants,  can  but  add  our  testimony 
to  theirs,  that  the  name  of  this  man  of  God,  living  in  the 
seventh  century,  is  still  honoured,  and  that  to  this  day  his 
works  do  follow  him.  In  our  Bible  we  read  much  and 
often  of  Holy  Places,  and  as  we  believe  still  in  the  "Church 
not  made  with  hands"  equally  with  "the  fretted  aisle  and 
stately  fane,"  so  verily  does  Dunblane  combine  all  ;  and, 
after  twelve  centuries  of  prayer  and  praise  the  place  is 
indeed  sacred  in  its  associations,  and  in  its  precincts  the 
name  of  Blane  is  reverently  spoken. 

On  Skene's  authority,  we  know  more  of  Blane  than  of 
many  of  his  Celtic  brethren  whose  names  are  but  little  more 
than  empty  tradition.  "The  Church  of  Dunblane  dates  back 
to  the  seventh  century,  and  seems  to  have  been  an  offshoot 
of  the  Church  of  Kingarth,  in  Bute,  for  its  founder  was  St. 
Blane.  He  was  of  the  race  of  the  Irish  Picts,  and  nephew 
of  that  Bishop  Cathan  who  founded  Kingarth ;  and  was 
himself  bishop  of  that  church,  and  his  mother  was  a 
daughter  of  King  Aidan,  of  Dalriada."  (In  the  Felire  of 
Angus  he  is  named  as  '  Blann,  the  mild,  of  Kingarth,'  and 
in  a  gloss  is  added  '  Dumbaan  is  his  principal  city'.) 
"  The  Church  of  Dunblane  was  situated  in  the  vale  of  the 
river  Allan,  not  far  from  its  juncture  with  the  Forth,  and 
is  mentioned  in  the  Pictish  Chronicle  under  the  reign  of 
6 


66 


DUN B LAX E 


Kenneth  MacAlpin,  when  it  was  burnt  by  the  neighbouring 
Britons  of  Strathclyde.  We  hear  no  more  of  this  church 
until  the  foundation  of  the  bishopric  of  King  David."  For 
it  was  towards  the  close  of  his  reign  that  he  added  Brechin 
and  Dunblane  to  the  seven  bishoprics  already  established. 
Again  on  Skene's  authority,  we  learn  "  They  were  probably 
from  the  remains  of  the  old  Pictish  bishopric  of  Abernethy, 
in  so  far  as  the  churches  which  had  been  subject  to  it  had 
not  been  absorbed  by  the  growing  bishopric  of  St.  Andrews, 
which  immediately  succeeded  it.  .  .  .  Abernethy,  too,  was 
the  last  of  the  bishoprics  which  existed  while  the  kingdom 
ruled  over  by  the  Scottish  dynasty  was  still  called  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Picts,  while  that  of  St.  Andrews  was  more 
peculiarly  associated  with  the  Scots,  and  it  was  in  Stratherne, 
and  in  the  northern  parts  of  Angus,  and  in  the  Mearns, 
that  the  Pictish  population  lingered  longest  distinct  from 
the  Scots." 

Although  King  David  re-established  Blane's  church  in 
1 150,  there  is  undoubted  evidence  that  the  Keledei,  or  as 
we  know  them  under  the  more  familiar  name  of  Culdees, 
had  been  settled  there  as  a  Convent  or  House.  This  appears 
natural  enough  when  we  recall  the  importance  of  the 
Culdee  settlement  in  Abernethy  and  King  David's  frequent 
allusion  to  them  in  his  Charters,  and  we  have  also  authentic 
facts  as  to  their  presence  in  Dunkeld,  Brechin,  and  St. 
Andrews,  three  Sees  closely  contemporaneous  with  Dun- 
blane. Skene,  however,  claims  that  their  house  was  at 
Muthil,  one  of  the  seats  of  the  Earls  of  Stratherne,  whilst 
Cosmo  Innes  says:  "The  Church  of  Dunblane  was  in  a 
different  situation  from  the  other  bishoprics  of  Scotland. 
That  diocese  was  dependent  upon  the  great  Earls  of 
Stratherne,  and  among  other  indications,  some  of  which 
we  have  already  seen,  that  Malis,  Earl  of  Stratherne,  did  not 
come  willingly  into  the  new  notions  of  David  I. ;  and  it 
may,  perhaps,  be  counted  on  that  the  Culdees  continued  to 
act  as  the  chapter  of  that  cathedral  for  a  century  after  they 
had  been  ousted  at  St.  Andrews  and  Dunkeld." 


DUNBLANE 


67 


Although  architects  and  antiquarians  alike  agree  that  the 
Tower  dates  from  the  twelfth  century,  we  hear  little  or 
nothing  of  the  building  until  1233,  when  the  learned 
Clement,  a  Dominican  friar,  was  appointed  to  the  See. 
He  came  but  to  return  to  Rome  with  a  pitiless  tale  of 
roofless  church,  of  no  pastor,  of  lay  influence  in  the 
Columban  monastery  ;  and  the  sequel  is  read  in  a  Papal 
letter  of  date  1237:  "Whereas,  the  Church  of  Dunblane 
once  lay  vacant  one  hundred  years  or  more,  nearly  all  its 
goods  being  occupied  .by  laymen  ;  and  though,  in  process 
of  time,  many  bishops  were  appointed,  yet,  owing  to  their 
folly  and  want  of  care,  the  scanty  residue  which  had 
escaped  the  spoilers  was  spent,  so  that  now  there  had  been 
no  one  for  ten  years  last  past  who  would  undertake  the  See, 
the  revenues  would  not  maintain  a  bishop  for  two  years, 
and  it  stands  bare  and  roofless,  with  a  single  rustic 
chaplain." 

The  bishops  of  Glasgow  and  Dunkeld,  to  whom  appeal 
was  made,  seem  to  have  succeeded  in  again  interesting 
the  great  Earl  in  the  fortunes  or  misfortunes  of  Dunblane 
Church,  for  soon  we  read  of  Bishop  Clement's  stately 
edifice.  What  a  contrast  for  us  between  the  honoured 
memory  of  the  humble  Blane,  and  the  forgotten  grandeur 
of  the  great  earls,  whose  smile  carried  favour  and  whose 
word  was  law.  Belonging  as  they  did  to  the  ancient  race, 
they  yet  conformed  to  all  the  fashions  of  the  times,  and 
were  courted  and  deemed  equals  by  the  highest  Norman 
families.  In  style  surpassing  royalty  itself  they  lived  and 
ruled  over  what  has  been  termed  the  only  Palatinate  in 
Scotland  during  the  twelfth  century.  Their  princely  en- 
dowment of  Inchaffray  Abbey  makes  their  claim  to  have 
the  bishopric  transferred  thereto  the  more  interesting, 
because  Blane's  church  triumphed  ;  then  we  hear  of  them 
for  centuries  as  patrons  and  superiors  of  the  cathedral 
bearing  his  name.  The  great  earldom  exists  no  more,  only 
the  descendants  of  the  many  branches  of  its  family  survive 
in  the  aristocratic  houses  of  Athole,  Drummond,  and  others. 


68 


DL'S'BLAXE 


Men  of  power  they  were  in  Scotland's  golden  age  of  church 
building,  the  period  which  covered  the  reigns  of  William 
the  Lion  and  of  the  second  and  third  Alexanders — 
rulers  worthy  of  their  name  and  race — all  Celtic  kings. 
Under  them  peace  and  plenty,  law  and  justice  flourished — 
a  last  golden  gleam  of  sunny  prosperity  ,ere  the  dark 
days  that  followed  closed  down  on  Scottish  national  life. 
With  the  full  pocket,  visible  piety,  as  revealed  in  carved 
stone  and  column,  attested  the  faith  as  well  as  the  liberality 
of  all  who  would  be  considered  as.  Christians  then.  "  To 
the  glory  of  God  "  was  no  empty  titular  claim  but  rather 
a  prick  to  soiled  and  bruised  consciences,  from  whose 
cravings  for  expiation  we  inherit  finely  carved  pillars  and 
exquisitely  traced  mouldings,  storied  windows  and  canopied 
tombs,  a  perfect  glory  of  stone  and  glass,  from  which  we 
can,  if  we  will,  read  the  history  of  the  men  and  manners 
who  formed  the  national  life  through  this  their  accepted 
medium  of  ecclesiastical  art  and  architecture. 

Dunblane  and  Dunkeld  still  remain  rural  villages,  un- 
affected to  any  marked  extent  by  the  so-called  progress  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  for  the  bustle  attendant  on  manu- 
facturing development  has  practically  passed  them  by,  and 
nowhere  else  in  England  or  Scotland  do  we  find  better 
examples  of  the  hermit's  wish  to  seek  religious  peace  in 
sequestered  spot.  They  stand  as  living  exceptions,  proving 
the  rule  that  around  our  abbeys  and  cathedrals  commerce 
and  wealth  have  been  fostered  and  cities  have  sprung  up  to 
influence  and  to  develop  the  nation's  prosperity. 

As  we  look  upon  the  fabric  of  this  building  we  can 
easily  trace  its  different  periods  of  erection.  The  Tower, 
a  Romanesque  tower  as  before  said,  is  oldest,  and  its 
position  is  also  worthy  of  notice.  Its  walls  are  over 
five  feet  in  thickness  and  form  a  square  of  twenty-two 
and  a-half  feet,  but  are  not  .parallel  with  the  walls  of  the 
nave,  so  that  the  projection  into  the  graveyard  is  deeper  at 
the  south-west  corner,  by  several  feet,  than  at  the  south-east 
corner.    This  again   naturally  shows  the  same  variance 


DUX BLASE 


69 


within  the  building,  where  the  tower  projects  into  the  south 
aisle.  Then  too,  though  square  and  not  round,  as  are 
the  towers  of  Abernethy  and  Brechin  and  the  many  Irish 
towers  of  contemporary  date,  there  is  strong  internal 
evidence  to  show  that  like  these  it  served  as  a  place  of 
refuge  and  safety.  The  doorway,  which  is  placed  in  the 
north  wall  and  consequently  within  the  south  aisle, 
appears  from  its  general  design  to  have  been  originally 
built  for  external  rather  than  internal  means  of  ingress, 
and,  as  in  the  case  of  Brechin,  this  door  is  also  several 
feet  above  the  surface  of  the  ground.  No  trace  of  walls 
or  foundations  attached  to  those  of  the  Tower  have  been 
discovered  ;  it  bears  distinct  evidence  of  having  primarily 
been  a  detached  building. 

As  Dunblane  was  several  times  pillaged  by  the  ruthless 
Danes,  who  feared  "  neither  the  wrath  of  God  nor  the  face 
of  man,"  we  may  logically  presume  that  in  this  tower,  as  in 
others,  men  guarded  their  treasures  and  from  its  height  of 
four  stories  were  also  able  to  watch  for  the  approach  of  a 
possible  or  probable  enemy.  As  it  now  stands  there  are 
six  stories,  the  two  uppermost  having  evidently  been  added 
at  a  later  date,  as  their  corbelled  turrets  and  parapetted 
battlements  belong  to  the  Decorated  rather  than  to  the 
Norman  period.  On  this  parapet  the  arms  of  Bishop 
Chisholm  of  the  early  sixteenth  century  may  be  seen. 
The  ground  floor  is  vaulted,  and  by  a  narrow  winding 
stairway  in  the  south-west  corner  one  can  reach  the 
battlements  and  therefrom  "  view  the  realm  of  fair  Men- 
teith,"  Stirling  Castle,  the  far-famed  field  of  Bannockburn, 
and  the  rich  carse  land  of  Stirling  and  Falkirk,  recalling  the 
pithy  old  couplet — 

"  Ae  link  o'  the  Forth 
'S  worth  an  earldom  i'  the  North." 

From  the  experience  of  modern  days,  we  know  what  a 
veritable  Golconda  has  that  richly  wooded  realm  of  Men- 
teith  proved  for  Scotland  and  her  people.    As  we  stand 


DUNBLANE 


looking  toward  the  golden  west,  we  recall  that  Dunblane 
is  the  starting-point  for  the  journey  through  the  kingdom 
of  Faerie  and  Romance,  comprised  for  us  in  the  one  witch- 
ing word  "  Trossachs,"  which  Sir  Walter  the  wizard  has  be- 
queathed to  all  the  world  by  the  sweep  of  a  veritable 
magician's  wand.  Not  even  the  revenues  of  the  great 
Earls  in  their  palmiest  days,  nor  the  added  endowments 
of  Dunblane,  Inchaffrey,  and  Cambuskenneth,  could  count 
up  to  that  wonderful  pile  of  gold  which  "little  Scotland" 
proudly  gathers  in  each  year  from  the  four  corners  of  the 
earth. 

Descending  the  Tower,  on  crossing  the  nave  at  an  angle 
towards  the  Lady  Chapel  or  north  aisle  of  the  choir,  we 
enter  that  portion  of  the  old  church  ranking  next  in  age 
to  the  Tower.  Its  vaulted  roof  and  low  pointed  arches 
bespeak  its  early  date,  before  profuse  ornament  had  marked 
the  early  Pointed  style.  A  wheel  stair  in  the  wall,  between 
the  chapel  and  the  north  aisle  of  the  nave,  leads  to  a  little 
upper  room  with  small  double-light  windows,  which,  how- 
ever, do  not  admit  light  into  the  choir,  and  so  in  this 
respect  differ  from  those  of  Dunfermline.  Possibly  it  was 
used  as  a  scriptorium.  The  memory  travels  to  stately 
Gloucester  with  its  magnificent  cloisters  within  which 
monks  transcribed  their  daily  tasks  on  illuminated  missals  ; 
but  the  absence  of  cloisters  in  our  Scottish  cathedrals 
rendered  a  writing-room  necessary,  however  small  and  ill- 
lighted  it  might  be.  Since  the  restoration,  this  upper 
chamber  has  been  formed  into  an  organ  loft,  and  light 
also  admitted  into  the  choir.  Some  authorities  consider 
that  this  Lady  Chapel  may  possibly  be  all  that  is  left  of 
the  first  church,  used  by  Bishop  Clement  during  the  earlier 
period  of  his  fifteen  years'  pontificate,  whilst  "his  stately 
sanctuary,  rich  in  lands  and  heritage,"  was  being  built. 

Regarding  the  chequered  history  of  the  cathedral  during 
the  Reformation  period,  we  find  record  in  the  Book  of  Perth 
that  in  June,  1559,  the  Duke  of  Argyle  and  Lord  James- 
Stewart,  Prior  of  St.  Andrews  and  half-brother  of  hapless 


DUNBLANE 


Queen  Mary,  destroyed  the  eight  altars,  two  of  which  were 
named  for  Celtic  saints  (the  patron  St.  Blane,and  St.  Blais). 
"  The  muckle  candlesticks  of  silver  in  Dunblane  kirk,"  so 
often  referred  to  admiringly  by  chroniclers,  disappeared 
at  this  time  as  well  as  other  ornaments  and  sacred  vessels. 
The  nave  was  unroofed,  and  it  is  marvellous  that  for  three 
centuries  the  western  gable  and  pillars  survived  the  winter 
storms  in  such  exposed  position  ;  even  the  fine  mouldings 
of  the  western  doorway  suffered  but  little  from  the  ravages 
of  wind  and  weather. 

It  is  a  popular  belief,  but  none  the  less  a  fallacy,  that  the 
destruction  and  ruined  condition  of  Scotland's  churches 
and  abbeys  is  entirely  due  to  over-zealous  reformers.  Not 
so!  Edward  I.,  Richard  II.,  Henry  VIII.,  Kings  of  Eng- 
land, as  well  as  the  hotly  zealous  anger  of  Highland  chief 
against  brother  chief  and  neighbouring  clan,  are  equally, 
even  more  responsible  for  desolation  and  decay  than  were 
the  Reformers.  Edward  I.  ordered  all  the  lead  at  Perth 
and  Dunblane  to  be  taken  for  his  engines  at  the  siege  of 
Stirling  Castle,  "provided  the  churches  were  not  uncovered 
over  the  altars,"  a  record  telling  its  own  tale.  Yet  Edward 
was  a  good  churchman  in  his  own  country  and  his  recon- 
ciliation of  conscience  with  practice  is  very  finely  drawn 
by  leaving  the  roof  over  the  altars.  We  can  thus  imagine 
that  a  spirit  of  righteous  anger,  even  of  probable  revenge, 
actuated  Bishop  Maurice,  who  was  also  Abbot  of  Inchaf- 
fray,  when  he  rode  with  Robert  the  Bruce  to  Bannockburn 
where  he  inspired  the  soldiers  to  fight  for  their  country, 
encouraged  the  King,  and  uttered  fervent  prayers  for  all. 
A  fine  character  in  a  noble  picture  was  Abbot  Maurice,  as 
we  read  the  other  side  of  the  story  from  the  English 
Chronicle,  and  learn  therefrom  that  the  haughty  barons 
jeered  and  laughed  at  the  kneeling  army  and  shouted 
that  forgiveness  from  Heaven  they  might  well  seek,  for 
from  their  English  foes  they  need  expect  no  quarter. 

In  carrying  out  the  restoration  of  the  "goodly  nave" 
great  care  has  been  taken  to  follow  out  the  original  design, 


72 


DUNBLANE 


and  as  little  as  possible  of  new  material  has  been  intro- 
duced. This  Nave,  130  feet  in  length  by  58  feet  in  breadth, 
consists  of  eight  bays,  and  its  clerestory  shows  two  lancet 
windows  to  each  bay.  It  belongs  to  the  Early  Decorated 
period.  The  walls  and  pillars  remain,  but  the  new  rodf  is 
to  a  certain  extent  a  copy  of  the  heraldic  ceiling  of  St. 
Machar's.  On  its  finely  coloured  shields  are  emblazoned 
the  arms  of  our  Kings  and  reigning  Queens  from  the  days 
of  James  III.  to  William  IV. — fifteen  in  all — beginning  at 
the  west  end  on  the  centre  of  the  roof,  and  culminating 
with  the  arms  of  Queen  Victoria,  placed  over  the  chancel 
arch.  On  either  side  is  a  row  of  seven  shields  ;  those  to  the 
north,  the  insignia  of  the  great  Earls  of  Strathearn  ;  those 
to  the  south,  three  more  Earls,  Euphemia  an  heiress,  and 
the  Kings  Robert  II.,  James  I.,  and  James  II. — all  patrons 
of  the  Cathedral. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  of  the  new  objects  is  the 
pulpit,  carved  after  the  designs  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Round  the  front  are  seven  panels  and  seven  statuettes,  alter- 
nating. On  the  former  are  carved  the  emblems  of  Christ's 
crucifixion,  and  in  niches  stand  the  statuettes  of  St.  Blane, 
David  I.,  Bishop  Clement,  Malise,  John  Knox,  Bishop 
Leighton,  and  Principal  Carstairs.  Around  the  handsome 
canopy  is  cut  in  bold  lettering,  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever." 

Between  Nave  and  Choir  is  a  very  beautifully  carved 
screen,  in  the  style  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  on  which 
are  placed  the  statuettes  of  Moses,  David,  Isaiah,  and 
Jeremiah  facing  towards  the  west,  whilst  turned  towards 
the  east  are  those  of  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Paul. 

The  aisleless  Choir,  81  feet  in  length  by  28  feet  in 
breadth,  has  been  re-roofed  and  the  floor  laid  with  marble 
and  tiles.  The  plaster  has  been  scraped  from  its  walls  and 
a  facing  of  stone  substituted.  It  is  lighted  by  six  lancet 
windows,  and  the  east  window,  consisting  of  a  central 
light  with  small  lancets  on  either  side,  has  been  hand- 
somely restored  by  Sir  John  Stirling  Maxwell.    The  chief 


DUNE LAKE 


attraction  is  in  the  stalls,  sixteen  in  all,  beautifully  carved 
in  the  style  of  the  early  sixteenth  century.  Of  these,  six 
still  retain  their  canopies,  and  the  carving  thereon  in 
beauty  of  design,  clearness  of  cutting,  and  rich  intricacy 
of  pattern  is  unequalled  in  Scotland  (with  the  exception 
of  the  screen  in  King's  College  Chapel,  Old  Aberdeen). 
There  were  three  bishops  of  the  famous  Chisholm  family — 
a  family  so  proud  that  it  is  still  said  in  the  North,  "  The 
Chisholms  had  a  boat  of  their  own  at  the  Flood  " — and  these 
Chisholms,  two  half-brothers  and  a  nephew,  succeeded  each 
other.  On  some  stalls  are  carved  the  boar's  head,  the  crest 
of  their  family,  surmounted  by  a  mitre.  Other  stalls  show 
the  sacred  monogram,  "Gratia  Dei,"  a  flying  griffin,  a  vam- 
pire, a  sleeping  fox,  a  monkey  on  an  ass,  vine  leaves,  clusters 
of  grapes,  and  everywhere  the  intertwining  of  the  national 
thistle  and  leaves.  The  stalls  had  evidently  been  provided 
by  the  Chisholms;  and  the  carving,  in  all  probability,  was 
done  in  Flanders  or  by  Flemish  workers,  as  we  can  trace  in 
it  strong  similarity  to  like  work  in  the  wonderfully  carved 
pulpits  in  Belgium,  notably  that  of  St.  Gudule's  in  Brussels. 
This  choir  served  as  parish  church  until  the  restoration. 

The  west  front  is  very  fine  ;  the  deeply  recessed  doorway, 
with  sharply  pointed  arch  on  either  side,  shows  perfect  work 
in  its  shafts  and  mouldings.  Above  it  is  a  fine  window  of 
three  arches,  "each  with  two  lights  with  cinque  foils  above 
— a  splendid  example  of  lancet  windows."  In  the  centre  of 
the  gable,  above  this  western  window,  we  see  the  famed 
Leaf  window  which  inspired  Ruskin  to  utter  such  tribute  of 
praise.  A  triumph  indeed  of  the  mason's  skill  is  "  this 
exquisite  carving  of  two  leaves  crossed,"  and  so  the  fine 
Rose  window  of  Carlisle  Cathedral  finds  its  sister  in  the 
Leaf  window  of  Dunblane. 

There  are  still  a  few  relics  of  interest  to  be  seen.  On  the 
east  gable  is  an  old  and  partly  mutilated  cross,  said  to  have 
been  shot  at  by  a  soldier  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland's  army. 
In  the  Nave,  a  fine  Celtic  cross  and  several  effigies  in  stone — 
notably  that  of  the  good  Bishop  Michael  Ochiltree,  who 


74 


DUNBLANE 


loved  his  church  well,  and  who  was  chosen  to  crown 
James  II.  at  Holyrood  after  the  tragedy  at  Perth — tell  their 
silent  story  of  the  past  ;  and  three  plain  blue  slabs  in  the 
floor  of  the  Choir  still  excite  curiosity.  They  mark  the 
resting-places  of  Margaret,  Euphemia,  and  Sybilla,  daughters 
of  Lord  John  Drummond,  victims  of  that  grim  tragedy  in 
Drummond  Castle  which  ranks  as  one  of  the  mysteries  of 
Scottish  history.  Margaret  was  generally  believed  to  be  the 
wife  of  James  IV.,  and  when,  for  reasons  of  State,  that  other 
Margaret  came  from  England  to  be  his  acknowledged  bride 
and  queen,  the  king's  courtiers  and  advisers  are  accused  of 
poisoning  the  Ladies  Drummond  whilst  at  breakfast  in  their 
own  home.  An  ugly  story  as  well  as  a  sad  one  ;  another 
deep  shadow  on  him  who  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  the 
gayest  of  Scottish  monarchs,  the  hero,  too,  of  much  of  her 
romantic  literature. 

A  most  interesting  relic  is  the  "  Dead  Bell,"  the  most 
perfect  of  its  kind  in  Scotland,  and  rung  by  the  beadle  before 
a  funeral.  The  bell  is  about  five  inches  deep,  the  handle 
being  of  equal  length.  On  it  is  engraved  a  cross  with  the 
letters  S  B,  thus— 


The  hour-glass,  no  longer  used  to  mark  the  length  of  the 
sermon,  may  also  be  seen. 

In  the  churchyard  many  old  and  quaint  tombstones  show 
the  figure  "4  "  cut  thereon.  This  figure  stands  for  the  four 
crosses  of  Dunblane,  in  former  days — Kippencross,  White- 
cross,  Anchorscross,  and  Crosscaplie. 

A  plain  and  sadly  weather-beaten  stone  in  one  corner 
bears  the  name  of  Jessie  Duncan  and  the  date  1788. 
Nothing  to  attract  the  eye,  yet  beneath  it  lies  all  that  was 
mortal  of  that  "charming  young  Jessie,  the  flower  o'  Dun- 
blane," heroine  of  Tannahill's  imperishable   lyric  which 


S 


B 


1615 


DUNBLANE 


75 


has  carried  the  name  of  Dunblane  to  the  four  corners  of 
the  earth. 

The  Cathedral,  as  we  now  see  it,  has  been  restored  at  a 
cost  of  ^"27,000,  towards  which  the  Heritors  of  the  Parish 
contributed  £3,500.  The  remainder  was  the  munificent 
gift  of  Mrs.  Wallace,  of  Glassingall,  to  whom  the  Church  of 
Scotland  owes  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude. 

Since  the  Reformation,  no  Churchman  has  been  more 
closely  associated  with  Dunblane  than  Archbishop  Leighton 
whose  name  is  perpetuated  in  the  "  Bishop's  Walk  "  and  in 
the  Bishop's  Library.  This  latter  consists  of  his  most 
valuable  collection  of  1,200  books,  principally  theological 
and  classical,  which  he  bequeathed  "for  the  use  of  the 
clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  Dunblane."  It  is  housed  at  the 
Cross,  and  one  notes  the  mitre  carved  on  the  east  wall  of 
the  building.  Few  men  have  lived  in  such  sweet  memory  ; 
a  short  extract  from  the  story  of  his  life  by  the  late  Very 
Reverend  Principal  Tulloch,  of  St.  Andrew's  University, 
speaks  volumes  : — 

"There  is  no  name  in  Scottish  Church  history  that  com- 
bines so  many  attractions  as  that  of  Leighton.  He  is  of  all 
our  ecclesiastical  men  the  one  whom  all  parties  acknowledge 
as  a  saint ;  and  there  is  no  feature  so  rare  in  the  heroic  but 
rugged  and  turbulent  religious  life  of  Scotland  as  that  of 
saintliness. 

"  There  is  something  lacking — an  element  of  sweetness, 
of  suavity — in  the  best  names  that  otherwise  claim  our 
reverence.  This  is  the  prominent  feature  in  Leighton's 
character,  and  in  him  it  is  perfect,  sweetness  mingled  with 
sincerity  ;  the  pure  expression  of  a  free,  and  gentle,  and 
honest  heart,  without  any  of  that  subtle  tincture  of  over- 
sweetness  and  craft  which  colour  it  in  some  other  saintly 
characters,  like  St.  Francis  de  Sales. 

"  I  know  no  character  more  pure.  There  are  many  stronger 
and,  perhaps,  wiser  (although  I  am  also  inclined  to  estimate 
Leighton's  wisdom  of  the  highest  order,  baffled  as  he  was), 
but  none  more  transparently  and  perfectly  good.    His  name 


76 


DUNBLANE 


is  a  jewel  in  the  crown  of  the  Scottish  Church,  which  shines 
refulgent  with  so  many  glories  of  a  different  order  ;  and  it  is, 
and  has  long  been,  to  me  a  fact  singularly  touching  that  our 
Church — accounted  by  many,  and  rightly  accounted,  the 
nurse  of  the  sterner  and  more  heroic  Christian  virtues- 
should  have  produced  a  character  of  such  light  and  sweet- 
ness as  is  rarely  to  be  found.  Presbyterianism,  we  shall  see, 
had  its  share,  and,  indeed,  the  chief  share,  in  the  formation 
of  such  a  character. 

"  Leighton  was  a  Presbyterian  for  by  far  the  greater  period 
of  his  life,  and  it  is  now  ascertained  that  almost  all  his 
writings  belong  to  the  Presbyterian  portion  of  his  career." 

One  other  tribute  to  his  memory  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Walter 
C.  Smith  strongly  corroborates  such  testimony  : — 

" .  .  .  .  Leighton  stood 
Alone  'mong  men  of  wrath  and  blood 
In  the  dim  twilight  of  the  day 
That  dawned,  uncertain,  on  his  way. 
Nor  might  he  comprehend 
Whither  its  strifes  would  end. 
He  comprehended  not;  but  tried 
To  quiet  now  the  wrath  and  pride, 
To  heal  where  there  was  hope,  to  pray 
When  hope  of  healing  died  away." 

Before  leaving  this  interesting  historic  scene — the  succes- 
sive shrine  of  Culdee,  Catholic,  Episcopalian,  and  Presby- 
terian saints— it  is  pleasant  to  record  that  at  the  opening 
service  in  1893  the  ceremonies  were  both  reverent  and 
impressive.  The  sermon  preached  had  also  a  most  suitable 
text  :  "  But  will  God,  indeed,  dwell  on  the  earth  ?  Beloved 
the  heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain 
Thee  :  how  much  less  this  house  that  I  have  builded  ?" 

The  restoration  of  this  ancient  historical  sanctuary  is 
accomplished.  Blane's  church  on  the  hill  has  again  become 
one  of  the  people's  landmarks,  and  as  a  suitable  conclusion  we 
may  once  more  quote  from  Ruskin  :  "  Without  the  elaborate 
decoration  of  Melrose  or  of  Roslin,  Dunblane  immeasurably 
excels  them  both  in  beauty  of  proportion,  and  depth,  and 
orce  of  moulding." 


DUNKELD 


COXSTAXTIX.  REFOUXDED 
810-820  A.D.  1 107. 

"  In  the  antique  age  of  bow  and  s>pear, 
And  feudal  rapine  clothed  with  iron  mail, 
Came  ministers  of  peace  intent  to  rear 
The  Mother  Church  in  yon  sequestered  vale." 

WE  may  claim  Wordsworth's  lines  as  more  applic- 
able to  Dunkeld  Cathedral  than  to  any  other 
Scottish  church,  for  it  is  situated  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  mainland  and  yet  far  apart  from 
the  ways  of  men.  Rural  England  is  dotted  with  the  ruins 
of  abbey,  priory,  and  convent,  ever  present  memorials  for 
us  of  mediaeval  monks  and  nuns  who  lived  out  their  quiet 
and  peaceful  though  generally  uneventful  lives,  far  from 
busy  haunts.  But  in  Scotland  it  was  ever  otherwise. 
Hard  to  believe  as  it  may  at  first  appear,  the  power  of  the 
Church  in  its  truest  and  purest  sense  has,  since  Columba's 
days,  been  greater  than  feudalism  or  the  power  of  royalty. 
If  we  would  perfectly  understand  the  trend  of  Scottish 
history  or  the  development  of  Scottish  character— with  its 
strong  self-assertion,  its  fierce  independence  of  action,  its 
marked  individuality  even  to  brusque  uncouthness,  its 
stern  love  for  whatever  it  believes  to  be  truth,  and  its 
peculiar  and  contradictory  expansion  and  repression  of 
sentiment — then  we  must  first  study  the  story  of  its  early 
Celtic  Church,  with  its  wonderful  educational  system  and 
intellectual  development. 

77 


DUNKELD 


COXSTAXTIX.  ReFOUXDED 
8IO-820  A.D.  I IO7. 

"  In  the  antique  age  of  bow  and  spear, 
And  feudal  rapine  clothed  with  iron  mail, 
Came  ministers  of  peace  intent  to  rear 
The  Mother  Church  in  yon  sequestered  vale." 

WE  may  claim  Wordsworth's  lines  as  more  applic- 
able to  Dunkeld  Cathedral  than  to  any  other 
Scottish  church,  for  it  is  situated  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  mainland  and  yet  far  apart  from 
the  ways  of  men.  Rural  England  is  dotted  with  the  ruins 
of  abbey,  priory,  and  convent,  ever  present  memorials  for 
us  of  mediaeval  monks  and  nuns  who  lived  out  their  quiet 
and  peaceful  though  generally  uneventful  lives,  far  from 
busy  haunts.  But  in  Scotland  it  was  ever  otherwise. 
Hard  to  believe  as  it  may  at  first  appear,  the  power  of  the 
Church  in  its  truest  and  purest  sense  has,  since  Columba's 
days,  been  greater  than  feudalism  or  the  power  of  royalty. 
If  we  would  perfectly  understand  the  trend  of  Scottish 
history  or  the  development  of  Scottish  character — with  its 
strong  self-assertion,  its  fierce  independence  of  action,  its 
marked  individuality  even  to  brusque  uncouthness,  its 
stern  love  for  whatever  it  believes  to  be  truth,  and  its 
peculiar  and  contradictory  expansion  and  repression  of 
sentiment — then  we  must  first  study  the  story  of  its  early 
Celtic  Church,  with  its  wonderful  educational  system  and 
intellectual  development. 

7- 


7» 


DUXKELD 


Skene — than  whom  we  have  no  higher  authority — and 
other  historians  equally  trustworthy,  boldly  claim  that  to 
St.  Columba  is  largely  and  justly  due  the  development  of 
Scotland  and  the  Scottish  nation,  and  of  many  extracts  and 
quotations  available  as  proof  but  one  short  extract  from 
Celtic  Scotland  must  here  suffice  : — 

"  One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  organisation 
of  the  early  Monastic  Church  in  Ireland  and  Scotland  was 
its  provision  for  the  cultivation  of  learning  and  for  the 
training  of  its  members  in  sacred  and  profane  literature,  so 
that  it  soon  acquired  a  high  reputation  for  the  cultivation  of 
letters,  and  drew  to  it  students  from  all  quarters,  as  the  best 
school  for  the  prosecution  of  all,  and  especially  theological, 
studies."  Is  not  the  average  Scot  a  theologian  to  this  clay, 
ever  ready  and  willing  to  discuss  doctrine  with  all  comers  ? 

At  a  period  when  "might  was  right"  we  find  the  Columban 
Church  exercising  the  strongest  influence  over  wild  chiefs 
and  petty  kings — barbarous  savages  if  you  will — whilst 
Saxon  England  was  yet  almost  wholly  pagan.  Our  familiar 
historical  phrase,  "  The  power  of  the  Church,"  differs 
greatly  in  effect  in  the  sister  countries.  At  the  time  when 
the  haughty  churchman  Dunstan  was  making  and  unmak- 
ing Saxon  kings,  we  find  that  Constantin  and  Kenneth 
MacAlpin  were  upholding  the  Columban  Church  and 
dedicating  Dunkeld,  Abernethy,  and  Brechin  "to  the  Lord." 
Even  of  the  Pictish  King  Giric,  whose  name  is  little  more 
than  a  shadow  to  us,  the  Book  of  Deir  records  that  "  he 
exempted  all  church  lands  from  exaction,  victuals,  and 
hospitality  at  the  hands  of  kings,  mormaers,  and  toiseachs." 

From  earliest  days,  these  Northern  warriors,  both  Picts 
and  Scots,  seemed  to  have  recognised  that  theirs  was  but 
physical  force  and  power  ;  the  moral  or  intellectual  form  of 
government,  as  we  might  term  it,  was  left  by  them  in  more 
peaceful  hands,  a  union  of  forces  which  seems  to  have 
worked  excellently  well,  and  which  made  Scotland's  sturdy 
race,  in  spite  of  her  poor  soil,  ungenial  climate,  and  seeming 
lack  of  commercial  prosperity,  a  power  to  be  reckoned  with 


DUNK  ELD 


79 


by  wealthier  England  in  later  mediaeval  days.  The  Church 
in  England  became  a  mighty  temporal  power,  too  oft  curb- 
ing the  wills  and  rights  of  men,  a  rival  to  the  throne  itself  in 
Dunstan's  and  Becket's  days.  Who  that  has  read  his 
Tennyson  can  forget  "  King's  men  " — "  Becket's  men  "  ? 

The  Church  in  Scotland  courted  and  worked  with  the 
temporal  powers,  guiding  rather  than  ruling  or  repressing 
the  wills  of  its  people.  A  subtle  indefinable  difference,  yet 
a  distinction  not  too  fine  for  us  to  grasp.  The  Latin 
Church,  its  successor,  freely  imbibed  the  spirit  abroad  in 
the  land.  Scottish  records  are  full  of  the  tales  of  struggle 
between  King  and  nobles,  but  never  once  of  King  against 
Church,  or  Church  against  nobles.  The  unbiased  student 
of  history  can  never  assert  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
showed  arrogance  until  in  the  throes  of  the  final  struggle 
for  existence  ;  yet  she  fell,  and  all  that  belonged  to  her 
of  the  beauty  of  holiness  was  forgotten,  because  of  her 
temporal  power  in  other  lands.  Then  the  greed  of  gude 
Scots  lords  and  rival  factions  coveted,  as  did  Henry  VIII., 
the  Church  lands,  the  fertile  farms,  and  busy,  peaceful  mills, 
and  the  commercial  enterprises  which  abbots  and  monks 
had  fostered  for  the  country's  welfare.  But  the  living 
power  of  education  was  not  totally  forgotten,  and  Scot- 
land gained  over  England  in  having  at  least  one  portion 
of  her  Church  revenues  again  devoted  to  the  pursuit  of 
learning.  John  Knox's  establishment  of  schools  in  every 
parish  was  a  fitting  legacy  bequeathed  in  a  spirit  inherited 
from  the  Columban  Church. 

The  story  of  the  Church  of  Dunkeld  belongs  to  a  period 
when  Northern  Picts,  Southern  Picts,  the  Celts  of  Galloway 
and  Strathclyde,  the  Saxons  of  Bernicia,  and  the  Scots  of 
Dalriada  were  each  and  all  rivals  of  the  other,  and  "Alban  " 
versus  "  Scotia  "  was  the  battle  cry.  Dunkeld  was  then  in 
Albany.  Ere  the  Celtic  story  of  the  Kirk  of  Dunkeld  had 
ended,  Albany  had  become  Scotia,  and  Scotia  had  become 
Scotland. 

The  Cathedral  as  it  now  stands  is  ideally  situated.  In 


8o 


DUNK ELD 


front  sweeps  the  "lordly"  Tay,  whilst  behind  and  around 
rise  crag  after  crag,  so  richly  wooded  that  the  church 
seems  veritably  nestling  midst  the  trees.  Behind  all  is  the 
magnificent  heather-clad  Grampian  range  ;  Birnam  Wood 
is  here,  and  from  the  heights  above,  Dunsinane  marks 
the  horizon.  Even  the  light-hearted  tourist,  who  is  either 
ignorant  of  or  indifferent  to  all  historic  associations,  is 
deeply  impressed  as  he  stands  on  the  old  stone  bridge  and 
looks  up  the  river  with  its  varied  and  ever  varying  effects  of 
light  and  shade.  For  the  artist,  it  forms  a  true  picture  with 
architectural  foreground  and  a  wealth  of  natural  scenery 
behind  and  around.  On  closer  inspection,  regret  over- 
powers one  that  so  much  of  the  building  is  gone,  so  very 
little  left  of  this  ancient  seat  of  the  Primate  or  High  Bishop 
of  Fortrenn,  taking  precedence  of  the  See  of  St.  Andrews. 

Iona  had  fallen  upon  evil  days.  The  ruthless  Danes  had 
pillaged  and  burned — not  even  Columba's  bones  might  rest 
in  peace.  A  safer  locality  for  the  Annoid  or  Mother  Church 
must  be  chosen,  inland  too,  so  that  the  ravagers  of  the 
coast  might  not  easily  penetrate  thither.  So  as  Skene 
says:  "The  position  selected  was  at  the  pass  where  the 
Tay  makes  its  way  through  the  barrier  of  the  Grampians  ; 
and  here,  while  Constantin  ruled  over  both  Dalriada  and 
the  Picts,  he  founded  the  Church  at  Dunkeld,  in  which  he 
may  possibly  have  put  the  brethren  from  Lindisfarne  who 
took  refuge  with  him  in  796  A.D."  (Oswald  the  Patrician 
and  his  followers,  expelled  by  the  Norwegian  and  Danish 
pirates).  Again,  in  Bellenden's  translation  of  Boece  we 
read  :  "At  this  time  Sanct  Mungo  heir  and  Sanct  Colme 
preiche  afore  Brudeus,  was  ravist  in  spreit  be  his  devine 
wourdes,  and  followit  him  to  Dunkeld,  quhare  Conwallus 
beildit  ane  riche  abbay  afore  ;  bot  now  be  magnificence  of 
princis,  it  is  maid  ane  bischoppis  seit,  craftely  biggit  with 
square  and  polist  stanes.  Quhen  thir  two  holy  men  had 
remanit  VI  monethis  in  Dunkeld,  they  departit  hame. 
Sanct  Mungo  returnit  to  Glasguew  and  Sanct  Colme  to 
Ireland." 


DUNK  ELD 


In  the  Pictish  Chronicle  we  may  learn  that  this  Constantin, 
son  of  Fergus,  established  Dunkeld  about  810-20  A.u. 
Wyntoun's  allusion  to  this  fact  is  quaintly  told — 

"The  King  off  Peychtis  Constantyne 
Be  Tai  than  foundyd  Dunkeldyne, 
A  place  solempne  cathedrale 
Dowyd  well  in  temporalle." 


"The  bys-chope  and  chanownys  thare 
Serwys  God  and  Saynct  Colme,  Seculare." 

These  "secular  canons"  were  the  Culdees,  Keledei, 
Colidei,  or  Deicolae,  and  their  new  home  at  Fortrenn 
was  made  strong  and  secure,  and  soon  changed  its  name 
to  Dunkeld — strong  home  of  the  Keledei. 

Constantin  was  succeeded  by  Kenneth  MacAlpin  the 
Scot,  and  again  we  may  learn  of  the  power  and  influence 
exercised  by  these  early  fathers  over  the  minds  of  the 
rudest  of  warriors.  The  Columban  clergy  had  been 
dispossessed  and  driven  out  of  the  country  of  the 
Southern  Picts  by  Nectan,  717  A.D.,  because  they  would 
not  conform  to  Roman  usages,  and  the  Pictish  Chronicle 
clearly  indicates  this  as  one  of  the  causes  of  Kenneth's 
supremacy  :  "  For  God  thought  them  worthy  to  be  made 
aliens  from  and  stript  of  their  hereditary  possessions  as 
their  perverseness  deserved,  because  they  not  only  spurned 
the  rites  and  precepts  of  the  Lord,  but  also  refused  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  placed  on  an  equal  footing  with  others." 
In  850  a.d.  Kenneth  dedicated  the  church  to  St.  Columba 
and  transferred  the  Saints'  relics  to  Dunkeld,  and  in  the 
annals  of  Ulster,  865  A.D.,  we  find  reference  to  its  Abbot  as 
Primate  of  the  Pictish  Church.  Eight  years  later,  "Superior 
of  Dunkeld"  was  the  title  given.  In  the  next  century, 
Duncan,  Abbot  of  Dunkeld,  was  a  leader  in  one  of  the 
wars  of  succession.  His  power  over  the  wide  lands  with 
which  the  Church  was  "  dowyd  well "  no  doubt  made 
him  an  important  character. 

7 


'82 


DUNKELD 


Then  comes  the  story  of  Abbot  Crinan,  so  powerful  that 
he  might  aspire  to  the  hand  of  the  king's  daughter.  This 
King,  Malcolm  II.,  lived  in  Glamis  Castle  in  Forfarshire  or 
Angus,  and  his  grave  and  very  wonderfully  carved  cross 
thereon  may  still  be  seen  in  the  Manse  garden  at  Glamis. 
The  son  of  Abbot  Crinan's  marriage  was  Duncan,  Shakes- 
pere's  "gentle  Duncan,"  who  ascended  the  throne  on  the 
death  of  his  maternal  grandfather  in  1034.  By  his  accession, 
Scotland  thus  received  from  the  hereditary  lay  abbots  of 
Dunkeld  its  dynasty  of  Celtic  kings  which  held  the  throne 
until  the  days  of  Robert  Bruce.  The  Abbey's  endowments 
became  royal  revenue,  and  by  strange  irony  of  fate  its 
Columban  Church  was  to  be  overthrown  and  replaced  by 
one  of  its  own  royal  house. 

When  Malcolm  Caenmore,  son  of  the  murdered  Duncan 
(whose  bones  had  been  carried  to  sacred  Iona),  dethroned 
the  usurper  Macbeth  and  married  Margaret  the  Saxon, 
Dunkeld  again  comes  into  prominence.  Ethelred,  their 
youngest  son,  was  made  Abbot,  and  when  Queen  Margaret 
held  her  great  council  to  confute  and  refute  the  doctrines 
and  ritual  of  the  Celtic  Church,  it  is  rather  interesting  to 
find  that  she  brings  against  the  clergy,  lay  abbots,  and 
"  secular  canons "  thereof,  no  accusation  as  to  marriage. 
How  could  she  consistently  do  so  when  Abbot  Crinan  was 
her  husband's  grandfather  ? 

At  Ethelred's  death  the  Abbey  again  reverted  to  the  Crown, 
and  King  Edgar,  an  elder  brother,  appointed  Cormac  as 
Bishop.  Then  Alexander,  another  brother,  changed  its  con- 
stitution in  1 107,  and  erected  it  into  a  cathedral  church,  with 
Bishops  and  Canons  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine  and  a 
secular  college.  Its  great  possessions  and  privileges  were 
reserved  to  it  until  Turgot,  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  claimed 
jurisdiction  over  all  Culdee  houses;  and  later  still,  we  read 
of  the  Archbishop  of  York's  claim  "  that  all  Scottish  Bishops 
were  his  suffragans."  In  1188,  Pope  Clement  III.  granted  a 
Bull  to  William  the  Lion  recognising  the  independence  of 
the  Scottish  Church  ;  but  long  ere  this  time,  Dunkeld  had 


DUNKELD 


83 


been  curtailed  of  much  of  her  lands  by  David  the  "  Sair 
Sanct  who  found  three  Bishoprics,  and  left  nine."  In 
1200,  its  western  district  was  entirely  cut  off  to  form  the 
Diocese  of  Argyle  or  Lismore.  About  1239,  the  "use  of 
Sarum  "  was  introduced. 

Its  Celtic  ritual  was  now  gone,  so  too  was  its  Celtic 
influence  over  men.  A  new  pomp  and  panoply  strangely 
unsuitable  was  assumed,  but  peace  having  departed  from  its 
Zion  it  became  a  very  centre  of  feud  and  bloody  strife  ;  its 
bishops  had  their  trains  of  armed  followers,  and  in  the 
rivalry  of  clan  and  churchmen,  battle  cries  mingled  with 
and  too  often  drowned  the  voices  of  the  singers  of  the 
.Psalms.  The  shade  of  the  good  Columba  surely  lingered 
still  over  its  precincts,  and  we  may  recall  the  lofty  theme  of 
his  favourite  eighty-fourth  Psalm  and  realise  how  sadly  had 
the  goodly  places  fallen.  We  shall  learn  in  the  story  of  the 
Celtic  Church  how  very  little  power  its  Latin  successors  ever 
gained  over  the  Celts  themselves. 

As  the  building  now  stands  its  architecture  is  "perplexing," 
and  yet  Alexander  Myln,  a  canon  of  Dunkeld  in  1505,  and 
afterwards  Abbot  of  Cambuskenneth  and  first  President  of 
the  College  of  Justice,  has  fortunately  left  a  history  of  the 
lives  of  the  Bishops  of  Dunkeld,  which  professes  to  give  a 
more  minute  account  of  the  dates  of  the  different  parts  of 
the  structure  of  the  Cathedral  than  we  have  of  any  similar 
building  in  the  country.  From  this  account  it  would  appear 
that  the  existing  structure  is  chiefly  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  first  choir,  1220-50,  was  built  in  the  Early  English 
style,  and  there  are  traces  of  the  same  still  in  existence.  In 
1312,  "A  Master  of  Works"  is  mentioned,  and  in  1320  the 
choir  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  William  St.  Clair, 
"  Robert  Bruce's  own  Bishop,"  and  the  thirteenth  in  order 
from  Bishop  Cormac  of  King  Edgar's  time.  This  Church 
dignitary,  at  the  head  of  sixty  followers,  rallied  a  retreating 
body  of  five  hundred  Scots  attacked  by  the  English,  and  re- 
pulsed the  enemy  shouting,  "All  you  that  love  Scotland's 
honour  follow  me  ! "    He  was  of  the  Rosslyn  family,  and 


84 


DUNKELD 


thus  his  family  arms — the  Cross  engrailed — so  impressively 
carved  again  and  again  in  Rosslyn  Chapel,  are  also  to  be 
seen  here  on  the  East  gable.  In  June,  1380,  the  English 
invaders  burned  the  Cathedral,  but  Bishop  John  of  Peebles, 
1377-96,  repaired  it  and  filled  the  great  East  window  with 
coloured  glass. 

The  Choir  as  now  seen  is  used  as  the  Parish  Church. 
There  are  no  aisles,  and  its  dimensions  are  103  feet  long  by 
29  feet  wide.  On  the  north  stands  the  Chapter  House,  two- 
stories  in  height,  and  27  feet  long  by  20  feet  wide.  This 
Chapter  House  now  forms  the  mausoleum  for  the  Ducal 
family  of  Athol,  and  several  of  its  monuments  are  charac- 
teristic of  the  Renaissance  period.  One  on  the  north  wall 
shows  the  familiar  fess  cheque  of  the  Stewarts,  quartered  with 
arms  of  Athol,  and  bears  the  quaint  sounding  motto,  "  Furth 
Fortoon  et  fil  ye  Feteris,"  not  yet  entirely  obsolete  in. 
spelling  and  usage,  as  "  Furth  the  Country  "  is  still  a  recog- 
nised phrase.  Almost  opposite,  stands  another  monument 
resplendent  in  panoply  and  pride,  for  thirty-two  coats  of 
arms,  arranged  in  double  rows  of  eight  adorning  its  sides,, 
are  but  part  of  its  armorial  bearings.  It  tells  of  the  pomp  of 
dust  forgotten,  and  yet  close  by  us  stands  the  roofless  ruined 
Nave  of  St.  Columba's  Church  ! 

On  the  floor  above  are  small  windows  partly  built  up,  and 
on  the  outside  wall  may  be  seen  the  arms  of  Bishop  Lauder, 
who  finished  the  Nave,  built  the  South  Porch  with  its  statues, 
and  added  glazing  and  carved  woodwork  within  the  church, 
which  he  dedicated  in  1465.  He  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
Bell  Tower  in  1469,  and  those  of  the  Chapter  House  in  1457. 
Bearing  this  in  mind,  we  may  gaze  respectfully  on  his  chosen 
griffin,  which  in  the  mediaeval  language  of  the  Bestiary 
period,  "signifies  the  Devil  who  carries  off  the  soul  of  the 
wicked  man  to  the  deserts  of  hell "  (Griffins  also  carried  the 
good  to  heaven).  This  same  good  Bishop  was  a  noted 
preacher,  and  as  he  had  been  tutor  to  James  II.,  and  also 
instructor  of  the  eloquent  Soltre,  his  influence  was  very 
great.    The  old  bridge  too,  over  the  Tay,  was  his  bequest,. 


DUNKELD 


and  in  early  Scottish  records  we  find  that  next  to  legacies  for 
the  Church  ranked  legacies  for  bridges.  For  precedent  of 
Kipling's  title  of  "  Bridge  builders  "  as  applied  to  English- 
men in  the  Colonies,  we  have,  after  all,  but  to  go  back  to 
mediaeval  times,  whereof  we  may  read  for  ourselves  in 
Jusserand's  English  Wayfaring  Life  in  the  Fourteenth  Century. 
Good,  generous,  eloquent,  earnest,  all  these  and  more  was 
Bishop  Lauder,  and  yet  after  reading  an  extract  from 
Myln's  history  as  to  his  gifts  and  work  for  his  beloved 
church  the  story  which  follows  is  but  the  more  emphatic  in 
its  lesson. 

Bishop  Lauder  gave  to  Dunkeld,  in  1461,  six  standard 
candlesticks,  one  chalice,  three  cruets,  two  vials,  a  silver  pyx 
for  chrism,  a  solid  pyx  of  silver  for  the  Eucharist,  a  holy-water 
vat,  two  sprinklers,  and  two  censers  of  silver.  At  the  high 
altar  he  painted  the  reredos  or  "  antemurale "  with  the 
twenty-four  miracles  of  St.  Columba,  and  two  images,  two 
pillars,  and  two  angels  above  it,  and  added  fifteen  chandlers 
in  fair  fashion  bearing  tapers  of  wax  in  honour  of  our 
Saviour,  according  to  the  description  in  the  Apocalypse, 
"  two  frontals  of  silk  and  a  pillar  for  the  pascal."  Surely 
such  generosity  deserved  and  still  deserves  fullest  recogni- 
tion, yet  the  facts  go  to  prove  that  what  had  been  a  specially 
chosen  situation  for  the  peaceful  welfare  of  the  Church  in 
the  eighth  century  had  become  a  very  centre  of  strife  and 
discord  in  the  fifteenth  century.  This  good  Bishop  had 
dared  to  imprison  a  Robertson  (and  we  may  safely  presume 
the  Bishop  was  in  the  right),  but  a  Highland  Chief  had 
become  greater  in  his  own  estimation  than  a  mere  Sassenach 
Bishop,  be  he  benefactor,  adviser  of  the  King,  or  no,  and 
one  of  his  clansmen  became  for  the  nonce  of  supreme 
importance  to  Alexander  the  Chief  of  this  Clan  Donnoquhy 
of  Athol.  So  on  Whit  Sunday,  of  all  days,  whilst  the  good 
Bishop  was  saying  mass,  the  Robertsons  burst  unexpectedly 
into  the  choir,  "this  great  and  worthy  High  Priest"  was 
compelled  to  fly  precipitately  from  the  altar,  and  alas  !  for 
the  dignity  of  the  prelate  and  the  reverence  of  the  sanctuary, 


86 


DUNKELD 


was  actually  obliged  to  climb  to  the  rafters  of  the  choir  so 
as  to  save  himself  from  the  swords  and  flights  of  arrows 
of  the  avenging  Catheran.  What  a  story  is  here,  a  fitting 
prelude  to  Gavin  Douglas's  attempted  entrance  in  the 
following  century,  a  reminiscence  in  part  of  that  scene  in 
Canterbury  between  King  and  greater  dignitary.  Elgin  and 
Dunkeld,  in  spite  of  gorgeousness  of  array  and  stately 
ceremonial,  had  long  ere  this  lost  the  peace  and  influence 
for  good  over  Celtic  hearts,  possessed  to  the  full  by  St. 
Columba  and  his  Family  of  Iona. 

Poor  Bishop  Lauder,  harassed  and  worn  out,  resigned  in 
1476,  for  during  these  closing  years  the  records  and  all 
diocesan  papers  had  been  kept  in  the  Church  of  the  Friars 
of  Mount  Carmel  at  Tullilum,  under  the  walls  of  Perth,  and 
there  too  the  clergy  had  met  their  bishop  and  dignitaries 
because  of  their  terror  of  the  raiding  Highlanders.  Yet 
these  Highlanders  one  and  all  nowadays  are  noted  in  the 
Church  for  simplest  ritual  and  exceeding  zeal  in  God's 
worship.  To  be  absent  from  Church  service  on  Sunday  is 
to  be  ill  or  unavoidably  detained.  "  Full  of  years  and  good 
works,"  Bishop  Lauder  died  in  1481,  and  the  Cathedral 
lands,  under  the  name  of  the  Baronies  of  Dunkeld  and 
Abernethy,  were  legacies  too  of  his  business  capabilities 
and  zeal  for  his  Church. 

But  to  return  to  the  story  of  the  now  roofless  Nave 
(120  feet  long  by  60  feet  wide)  which  he  finished.  On  its 
south  wall  stands  a  finely  arched  and  crocketed  tomb  with 
effigy,  coats  of  arms,  and  much  carving.  It  is  that  of  Bishop 
Cardeny,  who,  according  to  Myln,  founded  it  in  1406  and 
carried  it  up  to  the  second  arches  "  commonly  called  the 
blind  story."  He  also  decorated  the  windows  of  the  choir 
with  glass  and  founded  and  adorned  an  altar  to  St.  Ninian. 
Many  lands  for  church  revenue  were  also  acquired  by  this 
hard-working  cleric.  (Ingratitude  or  utter  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion seem  to  have  been  the  special  characteristic  of  the 
natives,  presumably  under  Church  control  in  the  Diocese  of 
Dunkeld  ;  for  having  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life  in  an 


DUSKELD 


87 


attack  on  his  house,  Bishop  Cardeny  perforce  had  a  strong 
tower  added  to  his  episcopal  palace.)  Although  the  massive 
piers,  each  four  feet  six  inches  in  diameter,  of  the  seven 
bays  of  the  nave  appear  Norman,  they  belong  to  a  later 
period,  as  we  know  from  the  dates  and  from  the  fact  that 
"the  triforium  is  poor  and  the  clerestory  insignificant." 
The  great  western  window  is  plainly  unsymmetrical  in  posi- 
tion, and  indicates  that  there  have  been  changes  and  addi- 
tions to  the  original  plan.  The  aisles  are  twelve  feet  wide 
and  the  south  one  has  been  vaulted.  The  south  porch  is  in 
ruins.  The  tower,  96  feet  high  and  24  feet  square,  is  con- 
sidered a  very  good  example  of  the  style  of  its  period.  Two 
of  its  bells  were  dedicated  to  St.  Colme  and  St.  George,  and 
the  music  once  used  in  the  Cathedral  is  said  to  be  preserved 
in  the  library  of  Edinburgh  University. 

On  close  inspection  we  may  note  the  smallness  of  many 
of  the  stones  in  the  walls  of  the  aisles,  and  thanks  to  our 
records  we  also  learn  the  cause  thereof.  John  of  Ralstoun, 
the  King's  secretary,  was  appointed  Bishop  in  1447  as 
successor  to  Bishop  Cardeny,  and  during  the  three  years  of 
his  life  he  lived  up  to  his  predecessor's  traditions,  and  to 
the  best  of  his  ability,  carried  out  his  plans.  An  extract 
will  tell  its  tale  for  us  eloquently  :  "  Bishop  Ralstoun,  with 
the  neighbouring  nobles,  carried  fardels  of  stones  from  Bur- 
bane  quarry  to  complete  the  aisles.  The  mortar  was  carried 
in  baskets  and  the  stones  were  conveyed  on  horseback  when 
roads  and  carts  did  not  exist.  Labour  was  paid  daily  at  the 
rate  of  2d.  or  3d.  Scots."  There  were  other  equally  good 
and  zealous  churchmen,  notably  Bishop  Brown,  who  sent 
out  missionary  preachers  to  teach  in  Gaelic  those  High- 
landers who  did  not  understand  English.  He  also  added 
the  fine  brass  lectern  with  its  statues  of  the  four  Evangelists, 
and  also  the  full-size  brass  statue  of  Moses  holding  up  the 
Books  of  the  Law  on  outstretched  arms.  All  men  of 
whom  we  might  applicably  quote  — 


"  De  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum." 


88 


DUSK ELD 


But  the  times  were  out  of  joint,  their  earnest  devotion  and 
daily  toil  unappreciated  because  of  such,  and  to  the  present- 
day  visitor  even  their  names  are  unknown.  Sir  Walter 
Scott  has  saved  from  oblivion  one  who,  as  a  bishop,  served 
only  his  own  interests,  and  in  comparison  with  Bishop 
Lauder  was  not  to  be  worthy  of  mention  as  a  faithful  son  of 
the  Church.  Yet  it  is  Gavin  Douglas  who  is  glibly  quoted 
as  "  The  Bishop  of  Dunkeld." 

When  he  came  to  take  possession  of  the  See  in  15 16,  his 
rival,  Andrew  Stewart,  greeted  him  with  a  fusilade  of  stones 
and  arrows ;  and  being  in  possession  of  the  steeple  and 
palace,  did  not  hesitate  to  shoot  therefrom.  A  Douglas 
would  not  yield  even  to  a  Stewart,  and  so  the  prelate  sum- 
moned to  his  aid  the  Douglas  followers  of  Angus  and  Fife, 
and  himself  carefully  provided  the  stores  of  food  and 
ammunition  necessary  for  the  coming  force,  for  Gavin  knew 
well  the  power  of  "  forewarned,  forearmed."  Having  thus 
brought  men  and  guns  to  the  position,  he  soon  forced 
admittance  to  the  cathedral,  and  then,  with  that  profession 
of  Christian  faith,  not  altogether  obsolete  in  present  times, 
he  acknowledged  his  success  in  "  thanks  to  the  intercession 
of  St.  Columba  without  loss  of  limb."  Dunkeld  was  still 
sticking  to  her  acquired  reputation  as  a  field  for  Christian 
warriors. 

Gavin,  though  deeply  learned  in  classic  lore,  need  have 
expected  little  courtesy,  for  whilst  there  raged  such  fierce 
enmity  between  factions  of  nobles  and  Highlander  and 
Lowlander — Celt  and  Sassenach — as  we  have  learned  to 
picturesquely  describe  them,  there  was  little  to  boast  of  in 
the  way  of  true  religion  or  culture  on  either  side.  Gavin's 
father,  the  fiery  old  "  Bell  the  Cat,"  reputedly  gave 

"Thanks  to  St.  Bothan  Son  O'  mine 
Save  Gawain,  ne'er  could  pen  a  line," 

and  in  these  words,  literally  interpreted,  we  have  the  key 
to  many  a  similar  situation.  In  reality  it  was  Marmion's 
treacherous  use  of  letters  that  aroused  the  old  Douglas's 


DUNKELD 


89 


contempt,  and  we  find  that  the  renowned  Gavin  had  his 
popular  audience  and  admirers  as  well  as  his  critical  and 
scholarly  compeers.  He  himself  tells  us  plainly  that  he 
wishes  to  be  known  to  the  folk  in  his  lines — 

"  I  set  my  bissy  pane 
As  that  I  couth  to  mak  it  braid  and  plane, 
Kep-and  na  Southron  bot  our  awn  langage." 

A  born  leader  of  men  was  Gavin,  and  as  a  Douglas,  he 
could  but  live  up  to  his  traditions,  and  we  can,  if  we  will, 
find  such  adjectives  as  intriguing  and  its  kind,  applicable 
as  well  as  applied  to  the  scholarly  Bishop.  They  were 
troublous  times  then,  and  he  was  a  man  born  to  rule  also  to 
intrigue,  proud  of  his  race,  but  take  him  all  in  all,  a  good 
Scot.  Sir  Walter  may  cast  his  glamour  of  romantic  interest 
over  our  clear  seeing,  but  the  glamour  is  better  than  the 
crude  sight  which  so  often  reads  the  past  judging  it  by  the 
standard  of  the  present.  So  here  in  Dunkeld  it  is  pleasant 
to  recall  that  this  warrior-statesman-priest  was  the  first  of 
all  scholars  to  translate  Virgil  into  the  Saxon  tongue,  and 
that  nowhere  in  our  literature  exists  a  more  pleasant  picture 
of  mediaeval  scene  and  dignitary  than  that  in  the  chapel  of 
Tantallon  Castle,  at  the  restoration  of  Ralph  de  Wilton  to 
his  love,  his  honour,  and  his  arms. 

'■A  bishop  by  the  altar  stood, 
A  noble  lord  of  Douglas  blood, 
With  mitre  sheen  and  rocquet  white, 

Yet  showed  his  meek  and  thoughtful  eye, 
But  little  pride  of  prelacy. 
More  pleased  that  in  a  barbarous  age 
He  gave  rude  Scotland  Virgil's  page, 
Than  that  beneath  his  rule  he  held 
The  bishopric  of  fair  Dunkeld." 

A  meek-eyed  Douglas  appears  to  us  an  anachronism  after 
that  Dunkeld  siege,  and  in  the  story  of  St.  Giles  we  must 
perforce  learn  somewhat  of  priest  Gavin's  methods.  Having 


90 


DUSKELD 


learned  all,  the  ideal  must  still  prevail,  and  we  will  ever 
remember  that  as  Gavin  Dunbar  dominates  the  Cathedral 
of  Old  Aberdeen,  so  Gavin  Douglas  is  par  excellence  the 
Bishop  of  Dunkeld. 

Bishops  Cardeny,  Ralstoun,  Lauder,  and  Brown  are  dead 
and  forgotten,  or  but  of  faint  memory.  After  such  scenes 
between  rival  factions,  alike  equally  regardless  of  the  fabric 
of  the  church  as  a  sacred  sanctuary,  we  may  the  better 
realise  that  the  oft-quoted  "  cakes  and  ale  "  and  merry  lazy 
lives  of  monks  and  clergy  were,  at  times,  pure  fiction.  The 
thorns  in  their  bed  of  roses  were  many  and  sharp-pointed. 
There  seems  to  have  been  no  dolce  far  niente  life  in  those 
days  ;  "  Men  of  ability  were  all  obliged  to  take  part  in  the 
stirring  times." 

Reverence  for  the  fabric  of  the  consecrated  sanctuary  lies 
at  the  very  root  of  the  ritual  of  the  Latin  Church.  She  had 
never  for  any  period  of  time  been  able  to  impress  this  on 
Scotland  or  on  her  very  own  children,  whether  prince 
or  peasant,  and  as  we  turn  to  look  at  one  of  the  monuments 
here,  we  find  a  strangely  suitable  object  lesson.  The  "  Wolf 
of  Badenoch  "  burned  down  Elgin  Cathedral,  "  the  pride 
of  the  land,  the  glory  of  the  realm,  the  delight  of  way- 
farers and  strangers,  a  praise  and  boast  among  foreign 
nations,  lofty  in  its  towers  without,  splendid  in  its  appoint- 
ments within,  its  countless  jewels  and  rich  vestments  and 
the  multitude  of  its  priests,  serving  God  in  righteousness." 
Such  are  the  words  of  wailing  uttered  by  its  Bishop  in  his 
letters  to  the  King,  Robert  III.,  in  1390,  the  year  of  the 
disaster.  And  this  "  Wolf  of  Badenoch "  of  appropriate 
sobriquet — who  was  he  ?  No  less  a  potentate  than  a 
Stewart  of  that  notable  Norman  Fitz-Alan  family,  who 
built  and  endowed  Paisley  Abbey  and  many  another 
fair  church  and  shrine,  and  who  gave  a  royal  dynasty 
to  the  country.  No  wild  lawless  Celt  in  any  sense  what- 
ever was  this  Earl  of  Buchan,  but  actually  a  royal  Prince 
himself,  even  brother  to  the  King.  And  the  outrage 
was  accentuated  by  its  being  done  on  the  feast  day  of  St. 


9' 


Botolph,  and  to  his  bonfire  in  honour  of  the  Saint  he  added 
"  the  Parish  Church,  the  Maison  Dieu,  eighteen  manses  of 
canons  and  the  whole  City  of  Elgin."  And  why  ?  Because 
the  Bishop  and  he  had  quarrelled  furiously.  The  church- 
man had  brought  against  the  rebellious  member  the  power 
of  the  Church's  arm,  and  excommunication  was  thundered 
forth  against  him.  Such  decree  had  humbled  the  Plan- 
tagenet  King  John,  but  a  Scottish  Stewart  cared  nought 
and  retaliated  quickly  after  his  own  manner.  In  due  time 
he  was  led  to  do  penance  and  to  give  compensation,  but  the 
lesson  was  and  still  is  burned  in  on  every  mind.  Having 
made  his  peace  with  the  Church,  he  now  lies  under  a  tomb 
here  "  an  earl  and  lord  of  happy  memory."  A  fine  altar  tomb 
on  the  east  side  of  the  choir  was  no  mean  recompense  for 
the  penance  done  in  palliation  of  his  flagrant  offence,  and 
as  we  gaze  on  this  monument,  dating  from  1394,  with  its 
grim  warrior's  effigy  in  full  armour,  his  feet  resting  on  a 
lion,  we  may  read  deeply  between  the  lines. 

The  Reformation  was  at  hand,  and  Bishop  Paton  was 
deposed  in  1571  for  simony.  But  John  Knox  cannot  be 
associated  with  the  ruin  of  the  building.  In  a  letter 
addressed  to  our  trusty  friends  the  Lairds  of  Amtuby  and 
Kinwayd,  and  signed  by  "Argyll,"  "James  Stewart"  and 
"  Ruthven  "  in  1560,  the  said  Lairds  have  fully  detailed 
orders  to  destroy  all  except — "  Fail  not  but  ye  take  good 
heed  that  neither  the  desks,  windows,  nor  doors  be  any- 
ways hurt  or  broken  .  .  .  either  glass  work  or  iron  work." 

A  century  passed,  but  not  yet  had  abiding  peace  settled 
over  Dunkeld.  In  i68g,  the  troops  of  "  Bonnie  Dundee," 
after  his  death  at  Killiecrankie,  met  1200  Cameronians  within 
the  shadow  of  the  venerable,  if  not  venerated  walls.  The 
Cathedral  and  three  houses,  occupied  by  the  troops,  nar- 
rowly escaped  being  burned  outright.  From  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning  until  eleven  o'clock  of  that  August  night, 
the  villagers  sheltered  within  its  walls  and  formed  barricade 
of  defence  with  the  seats.  So  the  ruin  was  completed.  In 
its  roofless  nave  and  aisles  the  prophecy  of  St.  Columba's- 


DUNk'ELD 


favourite  psalm  has  come  to  pass  :  around  its  ancient  altars, 
in  its  triforium  and  clerestory,  the  swallow  and  the  sparrow 
have  generation  after  generation  hatched  and  sheltered  their 
young;  and  the  ivy,  the  wallflower  and  the  quicken-tree 
(rowan)  find  root  and  sustenance  in  its  ruined  walls.  Yet 
the  worship  of  God  in  peace,  perfect  peace,  is  now  main- 
tained, and  hope  is  strong  that  ere  long  this  ancient  and 
very  historically  interesting  Cathedral  will  rise  again  from 
its  ruins  to  be  another  monument  to  St.  Columba's  memory. 

Church  building  as  a  form  of  expiation  belongs  to  the 
Norman  and  the  Middle  Ages,  but  surely  the  nineteenth 
century  is  not  entirely  lacking  in  good  works.  Those  who 
still  profit  by  the  Church  lands  and  revenues,  seized  at  the 
Reformation,  and  those  who  would  nowadays  in  heart 
repudiate  the  fierce  aggressiveness  of  early  ancestors,  may 
well  add  their  influence  or  their  mite  to  such  a  noble  cause. 
Dunblane  is  again  a  pride  to  the  land,  Brechin  will  be  so 
ere  long,  but  Dunkeld,  which  antedates  both,  remains 
undisturbed. 

The  gnarled  yews  and  the  huge  spreading  beeches 
proclaim  their  antiquity,  and  seated  in  the  stillness  of 
their  shade,  broken  only  by  the  murmur  of  the  beautiful 
Tay,  one  can  truly  say  of  this  Church  of  St.  Columba — 

"  Once  ye  were  holy  !    Ye  are  holy  still ; 
Your  spirit  freely  let  me  drink  and  live." 


EDINBURGH 


St.  Giles. 
640-726  A.D. 


Consecrated 
1243- 


"  The  past  is  so  mighty  an  element  in  a  nation's  greatness,  that  all 
wise  men  seek  to  preserve  it.  They  teach  history  to  their  children  ; 
they  observe  anniversaries  ;  they  preserve  carefully  ancient  monu- 
ments. And  when  our  kinsmen  from  America  visit  us — if  they  envy 
us  in  anything — it  is  the  inspiring  and  solemnising  influence  of  such 
great  historic  buildings  as  this." — The  Book  of  St.  Giles. 


T.  GILES  takes  last  place  as  most  recent  foundation 


in  the  list  of  Scottish  Cathedrals.    Its  building  has 


neither  spire  nor  tower,  the  place  of  the  latter  being 
filled  by  a  very  graceful  and  effective  crown  of  stonework, 
a  feature  of  architecture  comparatively  popular  in  Scotland 
but,  with  one  exception,  unknown  in  England.  As  seen 
from  Princes  Street,  the  Cathedral  stands  out  conspicuously 
against  the  sky-line  formed  by  the  ridge  of  the  Old  Town, 
and,  together  with  the  more  dominant  Castle,  shares  to  the 
full  in  public  attention  and  estimation.  There  is  indeed 
a  very  close  connection  between  Cathedral  and  Castle. 
St.  Giles  is  the  Soldiers'  Church,  and  no  more  impressive 
service  can  be  heard  anywhere  than  the  one  held  every 
Sunday  morning  for  the  regiment  from  the  Castle.  So 
widely  known  has  this  service  become,  that  the  tourist 
considers  it  as  one  of  the  sights  of  the  city. 

This  military  spectacle  is  enhanced  by  its-  environment 
within  the  venerable  building.  Its  pillars  and  their  capitals 
are  but  stands  for  many  torn  and  tattered  banners  from 


93 


<>4 


EDINBURGH 


the  battlefields  of  the  nation  ;  its  walls  are  marked  by 
the  bronze  records  of  heroes  and  of  patriotic  sons  of  the 
country  ;  its  chapels  take  their  names  from  warrior  states- 
men and  benefactors  rather  than  from  Saints  ;  its  windows 
are  in  prominent  instances  commemorative  of  fighters  for 
Church  and  State.  The  tout  ensemble,  in  a  word,  materialises 
in  stone  for  us  the  well-worn  phrase  "The  Church  Militant," 
for,  if  ecclesiastic  in  form,  it  is  truly  historic  in  detail — an 
interesting  combination  when  we  recall  its  story. 

Its  sister  cathedrals,  now  restored,  lay  claim  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  Celtic  saints  with  their  wattle  and  clay  churches, 
on  whose  ancient  sites  early  royal  founders  and  mediaeval 
bishops  built  and  enlarged  their  stately  Norman  and  Gothic 
temples.  St.  Giles  had  no  such  inheritance,  if  we  except 
the  secondary  Celtic  influence  from  Lindisfarne.  A  church 
certainly  existed  within  Edwin's  burgh  in  the  ninth  century, 
but  her  small  parish  church  of  St.  Giles  was  not  consecrated 
until  the  thirteenth  century,  and  this  church  was  only 
elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  Collegiate  Church  two  centuries 
later  at  a  time  when  Lollardism  had  become  a  power  to  be 
reckoned  with.  When  Edinburgh  was  Royal  Edinburgh 
and  the  Court  was  gay  at  Holyrood,  the  Jameses  and  their 
Queens  worshipped  in  public  in  this  collegiate  church.  It 
was  not  until  Charles  I.  sat  on  the  throne  of  the  United 
Kingdom  that  St.  Giles  was  erected  into  the  Cathedral  of 
the  Diocese  of  Edinburgh.  Our  capital  city  can  thus  point 
to  her  Protestant  Cathedral  and  Protestant  University  as 
unique  records  in  national  annals. 

If  in  one  sense  we  cannot  say  here  "  Every  stone  we  tread 
on  has  its  history,"  we  can  none  the  less  give  it  precedence 
as  the  most  historically  interesting  of  the  Scottish  Cathedrals 
to  the  world  at  home  and  abroad. 

Entering  by  the  doorway  from  High  Street  we  find  our- 
selves within  the  North  Transept,  the  oldest  portion  of  the 
original  structure  now  standing.  We  note  the  massive 
octagonal  pillars,  supports  of  the  tower,  and  the  expert  can 
also  mark  the  indications  of  the  disastrous  fire  of  1385.  We 


EDIX  BURGH 


also  note  that  the  many  chapels  have  crowded  out  the 
cruciform  plan.  The  finely  carved  pulpit,  though  of  modern 
date,  perforce  recalls  the  comment  of  a  north  country 
beadle  who,  when  reproved  on  a  cold  morning  for  neglect- 
ing the  stove  which  heated  his  church,  replied,  "There'll  be 
fire  in  the  pulpit  the  day."  It  has  been  the  fire  in  the  pulpit 
which  has  made  for  St.  Giles  a  place  in  the  history  of  the 
world. 

Facing  eastward,  the  Chambers  Memorial  Chapel  naturally 
demands  our  first  attention  and  tells  its  own  story  on  the 
brass  plate  inscribed  thus  :  "  This  Chapel  is  in  memory  of 
William  Chambers  of  Glenmoriston,  LL.D.,  publisher,  Lord 
Provost  of  Edinburgh,  1865-69,  to  whose  munificence 
Scotland  is  indebted  for  the  complete  restoration  of  this 
ancient  Cathedral,  1883."  The  large  window,  which  so 
appropriately  represents  Solomon's  dedication  of  the 
Temple  and  Zerubbabel's  superintendence  of  the  building 
of  the  Second  Temple,  is  a  memorial  to  the  brothers 
William  and  Robert  Chambers ;  and  another  beautiful 
window,  dedicated  to  Robert  Chambers  second,  is  also 
placed  here.  The  name  of  Chambers  has  become  a  house- 
hold word  throughout  the  English-speaking  world,  and  for 
this  munificent  restoration  of  the  national  Zion  his  name  is 
also  held  in  grateful  memory. 

The  cause  of  Scottish  religion  and  of  Scottish  education 
owes  far  more  to  the  rich  and  successful  men  who  began 
life  as  poor  boys  than  to  her  nobles  who  are,  in  too 
many  instances,  inheritors  of  lands  despoiled  from  the 
pre-Reformation  Church. 

Entering  the  Choir,  we  note  how  much  its  architectural 
effect  is  heightened  by  the  soft  light  from  the  stained-glass 
windows.  One  of  these,  to  the  left,  was  erected  by  the 
Stevenson  family,  and  memories  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 
crowd  upon  us  as  we  stand  on  this  spot,  well  known  and  oft 
recalled  by  him  when  exiled  perforce  on  the  shores  of  far-off 
sunny  seas.  These  windows,  designed  and  executed  by 
Edinburgh  artists,  far  excel  in  beauty  and  richness  of  effect 


g6 


EDINBURGH 


the  majority  of  those  in  Glasgow  Cathedral,  even  though 
these  latter  were  executed  "  furth  the  country."  One  also 
notes  that  all  are  the  gifts  of  generous  Commoners.  The 
windows  in  the  Clerestory  represent  the  craftsmen  of  the 
Ancient  Capital. 

In  the  Preston  Aisle  which  forms  an  extension  to  the 
choir,  on  the  right,  the  Royal  Pew  is  a  prominent  feature. 
When  the  General  Assembly  meets  in  Edinburgh  annually 
in  the  month  of  May,  the  Lord  High  Commissioner,  as 
Representative  of  Royalty,  sits  therein. 

Next  to  the  Preston  Aisle  we  may  see  the  Chapman  Aisle, 
with  two  carvings  of  interest  which  tell  their  own  tale.  The 
one  represents  an  eagle,  the  emblem  of  St.  John  the  Evange- 
list, and  close  to  it  is  the  scroll  legend  in  black  letter 
In  Principle.  The  other  bears  on  a  shield,  supported  by  a 
winged  angel,  the  coat  of  arms  of  Walter  Chapman,  founder 
of  this  chapel.  Dr.  William  Chambers  entered  with  great 
zeal  into  the  cleaning  and  restoring  thereof,  and  to  him  we 
owe  the  brass  tablet,  the  suitably  inscribed  encaustic  tiles  and 
the  grille  of  hammered  ironwork,  as  special  tributes  from 
a  publisher  of  the  enlightened  nineteenth  century  to  one 
who  was  in  Scotland  the  "  Father  of  Printing."  On  the 
brass  tablet  we  read  :  "To  the  memory  of  Walter  Chapman, 
designated  the  Scottish  Caxton,  who,  under  the  auspices  of 
James  IV.  and  his  Queen  Margaret,  introduced  the  art  of 
Printing  into  Scotland  1507  ;  founded  this  aisle  in  honour 
of  the  King  and  Queen  and  their  family  1513  ;  and  died 
in  1532  :  this  tablet  is  gratefully  inscribed  by  William 
Chambers,  LL.D.,  1879." 

To  the  west  of  the  southern  transept  we  come  on  the 
Moray  Aisle,  and  in  its  much  admired  window  also  see  its 
story  pictured  ;  the  assassination  of  the  "  Good  Regent  " 
in  Linlithgow,  and  the  scene  in  St.  Giles  when  John  Knox 
preached  his  funeral  sermon  to  an  audience  of  3,000,  "who 
had  not  a  dry  eye  among  them."  In  this  aisle,  too,  was 
placed  the  fine  window  to  the  memory  of  General  Wauchope 
of  the  Highland  Brigade,  who  died  in  South  Africa  in  1899, 


ED  IS BURGH 


97 


and  who  is  still  deeply  mourned  as  one  of  Scotland's 
noblest  Christian  soldiers.  Facing  westward  we  see  the 
fine  oriel  of  three  lights — another  object  lesson  from  history. 
In  the  centre  are  the  Royal  Arms,  copied  from  a  stone  slab 
in  Holyrood  Abbey  of  the  time  of  James  V.  ;  to  the  right, 
are  the  arms  and  crest  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  Hereditary 
Keeper  of  Holyrood;  and  to  the  left,  the  legend  of  its  Abbey 
is  depicted  in  the  escape  of  David  I.  of  blessed  memory, 
who  was  miraculously  saved  from  a  stag  by  a  luminous 
cross  which  shone  between  the  infuriated  animal  and  his 
prey. 

The  great  West  Window,  of  which  the  Prophets  form  the 
subject,  is  specially  noticeable.  In  this  same  western  gable, 
near  to  High  Street,  we  shall  also  see  a  very  striking  window 
by  William  Morris  and  his  coadjutor,  Burne  Jones.  The 
principal  subject  is  Joshua,  treated  in  cerulean  blue  and 
flame  colour.  As  the  sun  streams  through  this  window 
the  figure  looks  as  if  on  fire,  and  equally  impressive  is  the 
effect  of  brilliant  light  given  forth  on  any  of  the  many 
dark  and  dreary  days  of  this  foggy  winter  climate. 

Of  the  many  fine  monuments,  two  deserve  special  attention, 
to  Argyll  and  to  Montrose,  both  makers  of  history,  both 
martyrs  for  conscience  and  faith. 

If  Puritan  and  Covenanting  in  sympathy  we  shall 
approach  St.  Elois  Chapel,  and  there  gaze  upon  the  heavily 
gilded  marble  and  alabaster  monument  and  possibly  also 
regret,  in  utilitarian  vein,  that  so  much  money  has  been 
spent  upon  such  execrable  style  in  Art.  Above  it,  however, 
the  window,  filled  with  the  arms  of  the  great  Marquis  and 
his  prominent  Covenanter  friends,  brings  us  back  to  calmer 
judgment,  and  memories  of  that  last  wonderful  sleep  of 
Argyll  throw  insight  upon  the  character  of  one  whose 
conscience  needed  not  to  make  him  afraid.  Every  Scot 
worthy  of  the  name  should  value  this  window  as  a  record 
of  those  who  in  large  measure  contributed  to  the  formation 
of  that  high  moral  standard  in  speech  and  action  which 
have  come  to  be  recognised  as  characteristic  of  Scotland 
8 


98 


EDINBURGH 


throughout  the  world,  and  which  inspired  philosophic 
Wordsworth  to  pen  the  lines — 

"A  stately  speech 
Such  as  grave  Livers  do  in  Scotland  use  ; 
Religious  men,  who  give  to  God  and  man  their  dues." 

If  Cavalier  and  Jacobite  in  sentiment,  we  shall  seek  out 
the  monument,  erected  by  the  clan  Graham,  in  1888,  to  the 
memory  of  their  great  hero  the  Marquis  of  Montrose,  in 
the  Chapman  Aisle,  and,  standing  before  it,  repeat  the 
many  trenchant  lines  of  Aytoun's  wonderfully  graphic 
ballad,  notably — 

"Of  him  who  sold  his  king  for  gold, 
The  Master  thief  Argyll," 

and  live  over  again  that  execution  scene  which  convulsed 
the  city  and  shook  the  kirk  to  her  foundations.  The  fine 
window  here  shows  the  armorial  bearings  of  Cavaliers,  and 
we  note  that  of  Spotswood  of  that  ilk. 

Time  hallows  all  things,  the  rivals  lie  almost  side  by  side 
in  honoured  dust,  and  hard  by  their  respective  monuments 
the  descendants  of  Covenanter  and  Cavalier  sit  side  by  side 
in  St.  Giles,  placid  listeners  to  a  service  and  sermon  suffi- 
ciently ritualistic  and  gravely  decorous  enough  to  have 
pleased  a  zealot  in  either  cause.  The  younger  generation, 
trained  to  regard  tolerance  as  one  of  the  highest  attributes 
of  the  Christian  faith,  may  possibly,  in  the  arrogance  of 
youth,  occasionally  wonder  "  what  was  the  trouble  all 
about" — so  great  is  the  difference  between  the  sowing 
and  the  reaping.  For,  as  the  late  and  revered  Dean 
Stanley  so  aptly  said  of  our  Scottish  Churches  and  their 
services  :  "  It  is  quite  possible  to  appropriate  all  that  is 
ancient  and  beautiful  in  the  past  without  ministering  to 
those  modern  fancies  and  superstitions  to  which  other 
churches  afford  a  more  ready  access ; "  and  we  admire 
that  catholicity  of  spirit  which  placed  a  bronze  bas-relief 
of  the  Dean's  bust  on  the  cathedral  walls. 


EDINBURGH 


99 


Having  thus  walked  round  the  building  and  seen  of  the 
present,  we  shall  be  better  able  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the 
past  which  here  speaks  to  us  of  national  life  and  struggle, 
of  churchman's  zeal  and  of  layman's  generosity,  productive 
of  a  true  relationship  between  beauty,  religion,  and  worship. 
What  more  appropriate  quotation  can  be  given  than  the 
following  extract  from  the  sermon,  preached  by  the  minister 
of  St.  Giles,  on  the  occasion  of  the  opening  service  after  the 
Restoration  in  1883  : — 

"  Every  form  of  faith  and  worship  that  Scotland  has  seen 
has  probably  been  here.  .  .  .  Here  certainly,  throughout 
centuries,  the  Church  of  Rome  celebrated  her  ritual.  .  .  . 
Then  came  the  changes  which  we  all  know.  First,  the 
Prayer  Book  of  King  Edward  VI. ;  then  the  Book  of  Common 
Order ;  then  for  a  brief  moment  the  foreign  enforced  Service 
Book  ;  then  the  worship  of  the  Westminster  Directory  ;  then 
English  Independents  took  possession,  and  soldiers  preach 
with  pistols  by  their  side  ;  then  came  the  forms  which  are 
being  gradually  modified  ;  and  so  we  come  to  the  service  of 
the  present  hour — Roman  prelate,  Priest,  Presbyter,  Angli- 
can Bishop,  Covenanter,  Independent,  Sectary,  Minister — 
they  have  all  been  here.  These  arches  have  echoed  to  their 
changing  voices  " — 

'•  Age  to  age  succeeds, 
Blowing  a  noise  of  tongues  and  deeds, 
A  dust  of  systems  and  of  creeds." 

With  such  thoughts  in  our  hearts  we  can  better  understand 
the  story  of  the  Retrospect. 

RETROSPECT. 

The  story  of  St.  Giles  differs  considerably  from  that  of 
other  patron  Saints  of  Scottish  Cathedrals,  in  that  he  was 
Greek  and  not  Celt.  St.  Giles,  or  the  Holy  ^Egidius,  was  a 
native  of  Athens,  born  in  640  A.D.    His  parents  were  of 


IOO 


EDIX  BURGH 


gentle  even  of  royal  blood,  and  were  as  distinguished  for 
piety  as  was  their  son  for  learning,  charity,  and  faith.  This 
Greek  Christian  is  commemorated  only  in  three  places  in 
Scotland — Elgin,  Ormiston,  and  Edinburgh — but  in  England 
he  has  earned  no  less  than  146  dedications  ;  while  in  France 
also  he  was  exceedingly  popular.  To  that  country  he  set 
sail  in  his  twenty-fifth  year,  and  as  his  fame  and  power  to 
work  miracles  had  preceded  him,  on  reaching  Aries  he  was 
warmly  welcomed  as  an  honoured  member  of  the  Greek 
Colony.  One  of  his  miracles  recalls  for  us  that  of  St. 
Martin  of  Tours,  to  whose  close  connection  with  Scotland 
we  owe  our  notable  Martinmas  term  day.  St.  Giles  cast  his 
cloak  over  a  sick  beggar,  who  was  immediately  healed  of 
his  disease. 

From  Aries  he  removed  to  Nismes,  and  whilst  there  the 
hind  which  is  ever  depicted  as  his  companion  took  shelter 
with  him,  and  was  miraculously  hidden  from  its  pursuers — 
Flavins  Wamba,  king  of  the  Visigoths,  and  his  hunters — 
who  discharged  their  arrows  into  the  thicket,  then  entered 
and  found  the  Hermit  wounded,  the  hind  unhurt.  Wamba 
was  converted,  and  over  the  spot  the  Flavian  Monastery  was 
founded.  We  next  read  of  the  Saint  as  fleeing  from  the 
invasion  of  Roderick  the  Goth  to  the  Court  of  Charles 
Martel  at  Orleans  ;  then  of  his  death,  not  later  than  726 
a.d.  Later  on  his  body  was  transferred  to  Toulouse,  and 
an  arm  bone  of  St.  Giles  is  still  one  of  the  special  treasures 
of  Bruges — fellow  to  that  much-prized  relic  which  Preston 
obtained  for  Edinburgh  at  great  expense  and  personal 
enterprise,  and  which  was  thrown  out  and  lost  as  "rub- 
bish "  at  the  Reformation.  From  the  Breviary  of  Aberdeen 
we  know  that  his  feast  day  was  the  1st  of  September. 

French  influence,  so  paramount  in  Scotland  at  a  later  date, 
did  not  exist  when  St.  Giles  was  chosen  a  patron  Saint ;  so 
no  clear  explanation  as  to  the  cause  of  his  selection  is  possi- 
ble, except  that,  as  already  stated,  he  had  many  dedications 
in  England. 

Edinburgh  bears  its  Saxon  origin  in  its  name,  and  in 


ED  IK BURGH 


101 


854  A.D.  the  church  of  "  Edwinsburch  "  belonged  to  the 
Bishopric  of  Lindisfarne  or  the  Holy  Isle,  off  the  coast 
of  Northumberland.  Just  as  Strathclyde  included  Northern 
England  and  much  that  is  now  the  Diocese  of  Carlisle,  so 
did  North umbria  carry  its  northern  boundary  to  the  Forth, 
until  in  1020  its  king  Eadwulf  ceded  part  thereof  to 
Malcolm  II.,  maternal  grandfather  of  the  "gentle  Duncan," 
whose  wife  again  was  a  sister  of  that  Siward  of  Northum- 
bria  who  figures  in  the  play  of  Macbeth. 

Although  we  know  from  records  of  1 150  that  a  Monastery 
and  Grange  of  St.  Giles  existed  in  Edinburgh,  not  till  1241 
do  we  find  allusion  to  the  Vicar  of  St.  Giles,  and  only  in 
1243  was  the  Church  of  St.  Giles  consecrated  by  the  Bishop 
of  St.  Andrews.  The  service  book  he  then  used,  with  notes 
on  its  fly-leaf  as  to  this  ceremony,  is  still  extant  in  Paris.  Of 
this  early  church  little  or  nothing  remains.  A  fine  Norman 
doorway  was  destroyed  during  the  repairs  made  about  a 
century  ago,  but  most  fortunately  a  picture  of  the  same 
exists.  We  know,  however,  that  the  church  must  have 
been  a  very  small  one,  as  in  Monastery  records  of  the 
thirteenth  century  its  value  for  taxation  is  entered  at 
twenty-six  merks  only. 

Border  Lands  and  "  Debatable "  Lands  have  ever  been 
subject  to  fire  and  sword,  and  this,  too,  was  the  fate  of 
Edinburgh  during  the  War  of  Independence.  Although 
there  is  no  distinct  record  of  the  burning  of  St.  Giles,  yet 
an  extract  from  the  Chartulary  speaks  for  itself.  "The 
ravages  of  war "  which  had  devastated  the  church  and 
alienated  its  revenues  are  referred  to  under  date  1368. 

Froissart,  the  charmingly  ubiquitous  chronicler  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  is  our  next  source  of  information.  He 
tells  that  Scottish  barons,  encouraged  by  thirty  distinguished 
Frenchmen,  met  together  in  St.  Giles  and  planned  an  inva- 
sion of  Northern  England  in  1384.  The  King  of  Scots 
wisely  frowned  upon  this  proposal,  but  a  king's  will  and 
word  were  but  light  when  a  Douglas  felt  ambitious  ;  so 
the  adventurous  raiders,  headed  "  by  Erie  Douglas  and 


102 


EDISBURGH 


Erie  Moref,"  set  out  to  plunder  and  to  burn  on  the  English 
side  of  the  border.  For  this  raid  Richard  II.  of  England 
took  full  revenge  and  interest  as  well  in  the  following  year 
by  burning  the  Abbeys  of  Melrose  and  Dryburgh,  and  by 
giving  to  the  flames  utterly  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  of  which 
nought  was  spared  but  Holyrood  Abbey. 
Wyntoun  is  very  explicit  in — 

"  Of  Edinburgh  the  kirk  brint  thai, 
And  wald  have  dune  sua  that  Abbay  ; 
But  the  Duke,  for  his  curtasy 
Gert  it  that  time  sawfyd  be." 

During  the  recent  restoration  it  was  found  that  several 
pillars  in  the  choir  showed  signs  of  this  fire.  Another  relic 
of  this  time  was  also  brought  to  light  in  the  groined  vault- 
ing of  the  Tower  base,  on  a  boss  of  which  is  carved  the 
arms  of  the  Fentons  of  that  ilk.  Sir  William  Fenton  was 
one  of  the  auditors  at  Berwick  in  1292,  in  connection  with 
the  Bruce  and  Baliol  controversy,  and  on  the  Ragman's  Roll 
of  1296  his  name  also  appears  as  having  sworn  allegiance  to 
Edward  I.  He  was  therefore  undoubtedly  a  benefactor  to 
the  church  that  was  burned  in  1385. 

In  1387,  the  Provost  of  the  Burgh  contracted  to  build  five 
vaulted  chapels  to  the  south  of  the  Nave,  after  the  style  of 
the  Chapel  of  St.  Stephen  in  Holyrood.  Very  minute  details 
were  referred  to  in  the  Mason's  orders  and  instructions. 
They  were  to  be  "theykt  with  Stane"  and  made  water-tight. 
So  often  do  injunctions  as  to  "  water-tight"  appear,  that  one 
learns  perforce  of  the  climate  five  centuries  ago.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  then  as  now  the  wind  from  the  east  and  the  Haar 
from  the  Forth  bore  penetrating  moisture.  These  five 
chapels  remained  in  existence  until  1829,  when  unfortu- 
nately here,  as  elsewhere  in  Scotland,  the  necessity  for 
repairs  produced  in  the  hands  of  a  misguided  architect 
devastating  alterations  and  "  improvements,"  and  so  the 
present  South  Aisle  stands  in  place  of  two  of  these 
chapels. 


EDINBURGH 


Robert  II.,  first  of  the  Stewart  kings,  died  in  1390,  and  was 
buried  at  Scone,  and  in  connection  with  his  funeral  we  have 
a  most  interesting  record  relative  to  St.  Giles.  So  many 
people  gathered  to  the  Perthshire  Abbey  from  all  parts  of 
the  country,  that  the  hospitality  and  resources  of  the  Abbot 
and  his  monks  were  sorely  taxed.  The  funeral  was  followed 
by  the  coronation  of  Robert  III.,  and  as  the  harvest  was  then 
ripe,  the  visitors  made  much  too  free  with  the  crops  in  the 
fields.  Tytler  tells  us  that  the  new  king  was  awakened  early 
one  morning  by  a  medley  company,  led  by  one  of  the 
monks,  and  all  beating  drums  and  blowing  pipes.  The 
monk  was  unceremoniously  dragged  before  the  royal  pre- 
sence to  explain  the  cause  or  occasion  for  the  din,  and  thus 
slyly  made  good  his  opportunity,  "  Please  your  Majesty,  you 
have  just  heard  our  rural  carols  in  which  we  indulge  when 
our  crops  are  brought  in,  and  as  you  and  your  nobles  have 
spared  us  the  trouble  and  expense  of  cutting  them  down 
this  season,  we  thought  it  grateful  to  give  you  a  specimen  of 
our  harvest  jubilee."  The  King  enjoyed  the  joke  better  than 
did  his  nobles,  and  promised  to  look  into  the  matter  and 
recompense  the  Abbot. 

He  took  three  years  to  think  over  his  promised  reward, 
and  after  this  genuinely  mature  deliberation,  he  granted  the 
Church  of  St.  Giles  to  the  Abbey  of  Scone.  (Dunfermline 
Abbey  had  previous  to  this  time  claimed  St.  Giles.)  The 
Bishop  of  St.  Andrews  ratified  the  deed  of  gift,  but  stipulated 
that  the  monks  pay  forty-five  merks  to  the  Vicar  of  St.  Giles, 
and  the  sequel  soon  followed.  The  monks  considered  this 
tax  such  a  grievance  that  Pope  Benedict  granted  them  the 
right  to  appoint  the  vicar  from  their  own  number,  so  that  it 
became  a  case  of  "  Peter  paying  Paul." 

Robert  III.,  both  good  and  gentle,  was  far  too  weak  a  king 
to  govern  firmly,  and  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Albany,  sup- 
planted his  authority.  The  Fair  Maid  of  Perth  tells  the  sad 
story  of  David,  Duke  of  Rothesay,  the  King's  eldest  son, 
starved  to  death  by  his  cruel  uncle  Albany  and  his  accom- 
plice the  Douglas.    It  has  ever  been  a  notable  fact  in  Church 


04 


EDINBURGH 


history  that  the  usurper  who  plundered,  robbed,  and  mur- 
dered, also  expiated  his  crimes,  either  by  a  visit  to  the  Holy 
Land,  or  by  building  a  Norman  or  Gothic  chapel.  Here  in 
St.  Giles  we  have  the  beautiful  Albany  Aisle,  built  to  recon- 
cile and  obtain  forgiveness  from  the  Church  for  that  cruel 
tragedy  which  ended  in  the  dungeons  of  Falkland  Palace. 
The  broken-hearted  King  sent  his  son  James  to  France  for 
safety  ;  he  was  captured  en  routeby  the  English,  and  lingered 
a  prisoner  in  Windsor  Castle,  even  whilst  masons  were 
sculpturing  the  arms  of  Albany  and  Douglas  on  the  pillar 
we  now  see. 

Work  upon  the  building  seems  to  have  been  carried  on 
till  1416,  at  which  date  we  have  a  record  of  great  interest. 
Storks  came  and  built  their  nests  on  the  roof.  The  storks 
as  seen  from  the  tower  of  Strassburg  Cathedral  lend  such  a 
picturesque  effect  to  the  high-peaked  roofs  of  that  city,  that 
one  longs  to  see  them  on  the  many  gables  of  the  High  Street, 
in  lofty  isolation,  safe  from  the  street  below.  They  remained 
only  for  one  year,  and  "  whither  they  flew  no  man  knoweth." 
Probably  they  were  harried  and  insulted  as  were  those  of 
quaint  Rothenburg,  which  now  cherishes  a  pair,  returned 
after  many  years  of  absence — a  flight  and  a  return  sugges- 
tive of  a  higher  instinct  than  we  would  give  birds  credit  for 
possessing. 

James  had  returned  from  English  exile,  a  comparative 
stranger  to  the  rough  and  rude  nobles  who  thwarted  his 
every  effort  for  good.  His  was  a  lawless  time,  for  Albany 
the  usurper,  like  Stephen  of  England,  was  powerless  to  curb 
or  keep  in  check  the  men  by  whose  sanction  he  nominally 
ruled.  The  fearless  James  exercised  his  authority  as  sovereign 
and  paid  for  his  courage  with  his  life.  His  murder  at  Perth 
was  the  indirect  cause  of  Edinburgh  being  recognised  hence- 
forward as  the  chief  seat  of  the  Court.  It  was  therefore 
both  meet  and  proper  that  a  solemn  mass  should  be  sung 
for  the  soul  of  the  poet-King  in  St.  Giles,  so  that  its  echoes 
might  resound  throughout  the  Albany  Chapel  as  the  tragic 
aftermath  of  that  earlier  barbarous  tragedy  which  had  driven 


By  permission  of]  [Messrs.  Valentine.  Dund,- 

The  Albany  Aisle. 

Tajaccfa^  104 


EDIS  BURGH  105 

him  away  from  his  father's  court.  Sadder  even  than  Mary 
Stuart's  life  was  that  of  the  poet-King,  and  though  from  one 
point  of  view  it  may  appear  extraneous  to  the  subject  in 
hand  to  enlarge  upon  his  death,  yet  not  so  from  another. 

There  are  three  books  which  should  be  read.  These  are 
Scott's  Fair  Maid  of  Perth,  Jusserand's  Romance  of  a  King's 
Life,  and  D.  G.  Rossetti's  poem  of  The  King's  Tragedy ;  and 
the  reader  should  then  make  pilgrimage  to  St.  Giles  to 
realise  these  stories,  embodied  in  stone,  within  the  Albany 
Aisle. 

James'  youthful  son  next  became  a  prey  to  rival  factions, 
and  the  old  church  appears  in  better  light  when  Crichton 
and  Livingston  agreed  within  its  walls  to  keep  the  peace  and 
to  work  together  for  the  young  King's  welfare.  When  he 
had  grown  to  manhood,  the  Vicar  of  St.  Giles,  one  Nicholas 
Otterburn,  was  sent  in  1448  as  the  King's  deputy,  to  find 
a  suitable  consort  at  the  Court  of  France.  The  pious  Mary 
of  Gueldres  was  the  chosen  one,  and  then  a  later  record  tells 
of  the  Vicar  being  again  sent  to  demand  from  Philip,  Duke 
of  Burgundy,  the  bride's  promised  dowry. 

It  was  during  this  reign  that  William  Preston  visited 
France,  by  royal  encouragement,  and  there  obtained  the 
arm  bone  of  the  patron  Saint,  which,  enclosed  in  a  fine 
shrine  of  gold  and  with  a  diamond  ring  on  one  of  its  fingers, 
soon  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  precious  possession  of 
the  church.  When  Preston  died,  the  town  council  built  the 
Preston  Aisle  to  his  honoured  memory,  and  in  it  was  placed 
an  embossed  tomb,  an  altar,  and  a  fine  silver  chalice,  all  of 
which  have  disappeared,  and  now  we  see  only  his  coat  of 
arms — the  three  unicorns'  heads — carved  upon  the  roof. 

The  year  1460  was  one  of  dule  and  woe  again.  James  of 
the  Fiery  Face  was  killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  cannon  at  the 
siege  of  Roxburgh  Castle,  and  three  years  later  his  widowed 
Queen  died  also.  The  lengthening  of  the  Choir,  heighten- 
ing of  the  roof,  and  addition  of  the  clerestory  windows,  were 
accomplished  about  this  time  ;  and  as  we  proceed  towards 
the  East  window  we  shall  see  two  pillars  bearing  device  and 


io6 


EDINBURGH 


sculptured  tale  for  our  perusal.  The  King's  pillar  is  easily 
recognisable  from  its  four  shields  with  royal  arms — that  to 
the  east,  the  lion  rampant  within  double  tressure  with  three 
points,  the  sign  for  an  infant  prince  ;  that  to  the  north,  the 
lion  impaled,  the  sign  of  Queen  Mary  ;  that  to  the  west, 
the  King's  royal  shield  ;  and  that  to  the  south,  the  fleur-de- 
lis  of  France,  in  compliment  to  the  Queen.  The  second 
pillar  bears  the  City  arms,  and  those  of  Cranstoun,  Otter- 
burn,  and  Preston ;  whilst  that  showing  crossletts  and 
tressure  belongs  to  Bishop  Kennedy  of  St.  Andrews, 
cousin  of  the  murdered  poet-King,  and  the  founder  of 
St.  Salvator's  College.  The  shield  bearing  cross  saltire 
and  four  rosettes  is  that  of  Napier  of  Merchiston,  the 
loyal  champion  and  friend  of  Queen  Jane,  widow  of  James  I. 
From  these  books  in  stone,  the  inference  is  drawn  that 
these  men,  contemporaries  of  James  II.  and  his  Queen,  aided 
in  the  extension  of  the  Church. 

In  1466-7  the  parish  church  of  Edinburgh  became,  by 
Papal  sanction,  the  Collegiate  Church  of  St.  Giles,  and 
Pope  Paul  II.,  in  1470,  exempted  it  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  St.  Andrews,  freed  it  from  taxation,  and  declared  it 
responsible  directly  to  the  Holy  See,  a  position  unique  in 
Scottish  annals. 

In  1488  James  III.  was  stabbed  at  Milton  Mill,  and  masses 
were  sung  for  the  repose  of  his  soul,  as  he  had  been  a 
diligent  worshipper  in  St.  Giles. 

Then  in  1496  the  Hammermen  received  the  privilege  of 
supporting  the  Altar  of  St.  Elois  Chapel  (founded  about  the 
same  time  as  the  Albany  Chapel),  and  before  its  altar  they 
hung  up  the  noted  Blue  Blanket,  bearing  on  its  folds,  in 
Latin,  this  verse  from  the  fifty-first  Psalm,  "  In  thy  good 
pleasure  build  thou  the  Walls  of  Jerusalem." 

Tradition  associated  it  as  the  banner  carried  by  the  Scots 
Mechanics  to  the  Crusades,  but  more  probably  it  was  the 
one  presented  by  James  III.  to  the  craftsmen  in  1482,  so 
that,  in  case  of  emergency,  they  might  rally  round  it  for  the 
defence  of  their  city.    We  find  repeated  allusions  to  this 


EDINBURGH  107 

banner  during  the  successive  reigns.  (A  Blue  Blanket, 
belonging  to  the  Incorporated  Trades  of  Perth,  was 
shown  in  the  Glasgow  International  Exhibition  of  the 
present  year.) 

James  IV.,  he  of  the  iron  belt,  never  ceased  to  do  penance 
for  his  unfilial  conduct  which  indirectly  led  to  his  father's 
death.  St.  Giles,  with  many  another  church,  received  his 
moneys,  and  when,  in  1503,  Margaret  Tudor  came  to 
Edinburgh  as  a  bride  in  that  most  notable  of  all  Scottish 
marriages,  the  clergy  of  St.  Giles  were  most  prominent  in 
the  procession  which  wended  its  way  up  the  High  Street  to 
the  Collegiate  Church.  The  precious  relic  of  St.  Giles  was 
presented  to  the  King,  and  he,  in  religious  enthusiasm,  not 
only  fervently  kissed  it,  but  sang  aloud  a  glorious  Te  Deum, 
to  the  delight  of  his  people, 

Gavin  Douglas  was  at  this  time  the  Provost  of  St.  Giles, 
but  as  his  story  is  included  in  that  of  Dunkeld,  there  need 
be  no  repetition  of  it  here.  As  a  poet  and  author,  nought 
but  praise  can  be  said  of  him ;  as  the  Superior  of  St.  Giles,  his 
lax  discipline  and  frequent  absences  led  to  many  scandals. 
Mass  and  services  were  neglected,  and  the  Chapter  had  to 
call  him  to  account  in  1510. 

Another  royal  favourite  was  Walter  Chapman,  oft  entrusted 
with  the  royal  signet,  and  who  has  already  been  referred  to 
as  the  founder  of  the  chapel  bearing  his  name.  One  month 
after  its  dedication  to  his  royal  patron  that  kingly  soul  had 
passed  away  on  the  dark  field  of  Flodden.  A  trio  of  poems 
which  may  well  be  read  in  connection  with  this  church's 
story  at  that  woeful  time,  are  Marmion,  Edinburgh  after 
Flodden,  and  The  Flowers  of  the  Forest.  For  many  a  day 
thereafter  the  only  cry  was,  "Our  King  is  dead  !"  without 
its  echoing  sentiment,  "  Long  live  the  King !  " — for  Scotland 
knew  from  the  bitterness  of  experience  what  it  was  to  have 
an  infant  child  as  nominal  king.  In  Marmion  we  read  of  the 
King's  vision  in  St.  Michael's  Church  in  Linlithgow,  and  of 
the  signs  in  the  sky  over  Edinburgh  ;  but  another  legend 
belongs  wholly  to  St.  Giles.   Provost  Gavin  Douglas,  unable 


EDIX  BURGH 


to  sleep,  had  risen  to  pray  before  the  altar  as  he  had  so 
desired  others  to  do  "  for  our  Soveraine  Lord  and  his 
army  and  neichbouris  being  thereat."  The  glimmering 
light  of  the  Virgin's  lamp  served  but  to  make  the  dark- 
ness more  eerie,  and  soon — 

"The  boom  of  the  mid  mirk  hour 
Rang  out  with  clang  and  main, 
Clang  after  clang  from  St.  Giles'  tower, 
Where  the  fretted  ribs  like  a  box-tree  bower 
Make  a  royal  crown  of  stane. 
Ere  the  Sight  was  lost — 'fore  mortal  eye 
Ne'er  saw  such  sight,  I  trow. 
Shimmering  with  light  each  canopy, 
Pillar  and  ribbed  arch  and  fretted  key, 
With  a  wild  unearthly  low"  (flame). 

Then  Douglas  in  a  trance  saw  a  strange  "kent  throng" — 
his  kin  of  Angus  and  their  neighbours  the  Crawfords ; 
Huntly,  and  Home,  and  Lennox,  and  bold  Argyll  ;  and  last 
of  all,  King  James  himself  seeking  absolution.  A  ghostly 
mass  was  sung  by  Inchaffray's  priest,  and  as  Douglas 
groped  his  way  out  of  the  church  he  knew  that  Flodden 
was  fought  and  lost.  Very  soon  thereafter,  for  ill  news 
flies  apace,  the  Great  Bell  of  St.  Giles  tolled  for  the  dead 
and  also  summoned  the  living  to  the  probable  defence  of 
their  city.  Dunbar  refers  to  this  same  bell  in  the  expression 
of  his  wish  to  remain  within  hearing  of  its  sound — 

"  I  came  among  you  hier  to  dwell ; 
Fra  sound  of  Saint  Giles  bell 
Never  think  I  to  flie." 

James  V.  had  come  to  his  manhood  and  kingdom,  and 
though  we  have  no  definite  records  relative  to  the  coming 
storm  of  the  Reformation,  signs  of  the  times  were  not  lack- 
ing, as  under  the  widowed  Queen  Regent — Mary  of  Guise — 
freedom  of  speech  against  Church  and  Clergy  became  more 
and  more  popular.  In  1555,  John  Knox  visited  a  friend 
and  preached  so  boldly  and  convincingly  on  the  necessity 


EDINBURGH  ' 


109 


of  "  cleansing  the  kirk,"  that  many  of  his  hearers  absented 
themselves  henceforth  from  Mass. 

A  year  later,  the  Image  of  the  Virgin,  with  others,  was 
stolen,  and  again  that  of  St.  Giles,  so  that  when  his  Festival 
Day  arrived,  a  substitute  image  had  to  be  borrowed  for  use  in 
the  procession.  Queen  Mary,  to  show  her  loyalty  to  the 
Church,  walked  with  other  dignitaries  in  this  last  appear- 
ance in  public  of  the  patron  Saint.  We  can  follow  it  in 
fancy  from  the  High  Altar  to  the  great  West  Door,  down 
the  High  Street,  through  the  Canongate,  and  homeward  to 
Sanctuary  by  the  Nether  and  the  West  Bow.  There  the 
Queen  retired,  for  though  the  crowds  seemed  less  reverential 
in  bearing  than  heretofore,  there  had  been  no  open  hostility. 
Alas  !  the  smouldering  fire  immediately  broke  out,  the 
"  idol  "  was  pulled  from  its  platform,  priests  and  friars  were 
jostled  and  jeered  at,  and  at  last  "  incontinently  fled." 

In  1559,  news  from  Perth,  where  the  monasteries  had 
been  suppressed,  alarmed  the  clergy  of  St.  Giles,  and  their 
treasures  were  dispersed  and  hidden.  By  Midsummer  the 
army  of  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  had  entered  the 
city,  and  on  the  29th  of  June  John  Knox  preached  from 
the  pulpit  of  St.  Giles,  and  then  the  work  of  clearing  the 
relics  of  popery  began.  There  was,  however,  a  transition 
period  between  Roman  Catholicism  and  Presbyterianism. 
One  record,  available  from  many,  tells  that  "  The  parish 
churches  they  deliver  of  altars  and  images,  and  have 
received  the  service  of  the  Church  of  England  according  to 
King  Edward's  book."  The  Queen  Regent  was  still  power- 
ful enough  to  overcome  Knox's  influence  and  he  had  to 
flee  for  a  time  ;  but  in  August  of  that  same  eventful  year,  his 
friend  Willock  "  administered  the  sacrament  in  St.  Giles 
according  to  the  Protestant  form."  These  were  troublous 
times,  in  which  reverence  and  decorum  appear  conspicuous 
by  their  absence.  Though  the  Reformers  succeeded  in 
keeping  the  upper  hand  in  the  precincts  of  St.  Giles,  they 
were  not  supreme,  for  we  read  that  the  Queen's  French 
soldiers  strolled  in  and  out  during  service,  ridiculed  and 


i  ro 


EDINBURGH 


made  audible  comments  during  Mr.  Willock's  prayers, 
and  also  loudly  interrupted  his  discourses.  On  the  arrival 
of  the  Bishop  of  Amiens  in  September,  Mass  was  again 
heard  after  the  purification  of  the  building  had  been  ac- 
complished with  great  ceremony.  This  state  of  things 
lasted  for  five  months  only,  however ;  on  the  31st  of 
March,  1560,  the  last  Mass  was  heard  in  St.  Giles — then 
exit  Roman  Catholicism  finally. 

John  Knox  returned  immediately  and  was  appointed 
minister,  and  after  a  public  thanksgiving  service  in  July,  a 
scheme  for  the  government  of  the  Reformed  Church  was 
discussed.  King  Edward's  Prayer  Book  gave  place  to  the 
Book  of  Common  Order,  and  extempore  prayers  were  also 
encouraged.  (In  a  glass  case,  near  the  Western  Doorway, 
we  may  now  see  the  various  books  of  service  which  have 
been  used  in  St.  Giles  at  different  periods.)  No  need  here  to 
enlarge  upon  the  controversies  between  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  and  John  Knox,  as  lack  of  space  forbids  us  to  deal 
with  events  not  directly  connected  with  St.  Giles. 

A  great  occasion  was  that  of  the  marriage  of  the  Regent 
Moray  to  the  Lady  Agnes  Keith,  daughter  of  the  Earl 
Marischal,  a  brave  show  which  might  vie  with  the  most 
fashionably  aristocratic  wedding  of  our  time.  John  Knox 
availed  himself  well  of  his  opportunity,  and  addressed  the 
bridegroom  very  emphatically  as  to  his  duty  towards  the 
Protestant  cause  in  a  discourse  to  which  Queen  Mary  and 
many  of  her  courtiers  could  not  have  listened  with  appre- 
ciative ears. 

In  July  1565,  Darnley  and  the  Queen  were  "  proclaimed" 
in  St.  Giles,  and  a  fortnight  after  their  marriage,  Darnlev 
appeared  in  the  royal  pew.  Were  King  Edward  VII.,  in 
similar  circumstances,  treated  to  such  tirade — decidedly 
personal  and  almost  abusive — as  was  meted  out  to  Darnley 
on  this  occasion,  John  Knox  would  have  found  himself  on 
Monday  morning  the  best  despised  man  in  the  kingdom, 
and  the  public  press  of  the  country  vehement  in  its 
denunciations  of  his  peculiar  interpretation  of  the  term 


EDINBURGH 


1 1 1 


"  free  speech."  We  can  hardly  blame  even  weak  Darnley 
for  never  appearing  again  in  St.  Giles.  When  the  child, 
afterwards  King  James  VI.,  was  born,  "the  lords  and  people 
came  to  the  great  kirk  of  Edinburgh  to  give  thanks  to  God 
and  to  pray  for  great  gifts  and  grace  to  him,"  and  that  "  he 
might  be  endowed  with  the  fear  of  the  Lord."  Then  after 
Darnley's  murder  the  doors  of  St.  Giles  were  marked  with 
the  accusation  against  Earl  Bothwell  as  his  murderer,  and 
again  Earl  Bothwell  placed  over  the  same  his  denial  of 
knowledge  thereof. 

Another  proclamation  of  royal  marriage  was  made  in  1567, 
and  we  can  honour  the  protest  from  the  pulpit  that  followed 
this  announcement  of  Bothwell  and  Mary. 

Then  came,  in  1570,  that  saddest  sequence  to  the  Regent's 
fine  wedding,  his  funeral  in  the  same  kirk,  where  his 
memory  is  perpetuated  in  the  Moray  Aisle  and  on  the  brass 
tablet  with  its  classic  inscription  by  George  Buchanan  : 

"  To  James  Stewart,  Earl  of  Moray,  Regent  of  Scotland,  a 
man  by  far  the  noblest  of  his  time,  barbarously  slain  by 
enemies,  the  vilest  in  history;  his  country  mourning  has 
raised  this  monument  as  to  a  common  father." 

John  Knox's  grief  was  sincere,  and  his  friend's  death 
hastened  his  own,  for  in  1572,  he  appeared  again  a  feeble 
old  man,  with  quavering  -voice,  who  blessed  his  devoted 
hearers  and  went  home  to  die. 

James  VI.  was  the  next  royal  hearer,  and  at  his  public 
entry  into  Edinburgh  we  find  him  in  St.  Giles.  With  greater 
authority  than  his  father,  he  could  argue  back,  and  soon 
such  free  speech  was  interdicted,  the  King  declared 
"  supreme  in  all  causes,"  and  persons  and  Bishops  preferred 
to  rule  in  Church.  Then,  in  1586,  we  have  a  scene  between 
preacher  and  King,  the  former  as  denouncer  of  Bishops, 
the  latter  rising  in  his  pew  to  rebuke  the  minister  and  dispute 
with  him.  When,  as  was  most  natural,  James  desired  prayers 
to  be  said  for  his  royal  mother,  then  condemned  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  his  request  was  refused,  and  on  the  King's 
ordering  the  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews  to  appear  in  the  pulpit, 


I  12 


EDIXBURGH 


the  congregation  shouted  in  defiance  and  departed.  Sturdy, 
arrogant  fighters  were  these  early  Protestant  fathers,  fearing 
neither  King  nor  commoner,  to  whom  lese  majeste,  as  we 
interpret  it,  was  utterly  unknown. 

St.  Giles  looked  gay,  in  a  glory  of  thirty  shillings'  worth  of 
flowers  in  1590,  when  Anne  of  Denmark  came  as  royal 
bride  to  church,  and  in  his  new  found  happiness  the 
Scottish  Solomon  dropped  for  a  time  his  end  of  the  struggle. 
Personal  invective  can  never  make  converts  to  a  cause, 
and  James  began  to  hate  Presbyterianism  because  of  its 
exponents.  A  lull  again  came  when  a  baby  prince  was 
born  ;  but  in  December  1596,  a  false  alarm  was  raised  as  to 
the  King's  safety,  a  panic  ensued,  and  James,  thoroughly 
frightened,  reached  Holyrood  and  then  retired  to  Linlith- 
gow. A  few  days  later,  he  returned  to  a  rejoicing  city  and 
penitent  people,  and  the  ministers  were  banished. 

In  1598,  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  produced  such  darkness 
and  terror,  that  soon  the  church  was  crowded  to  the  door 
by  men  and  women  sure  that  the  last  day  had  come. 

A  greater  occasion  followed  in  1603,  when  the  King  and 
Court  came  to  say  farewell  to  the  people,  and  after  the  ser- 
mon, the  King  promised  to  visit  his  native  land  every  three 
years,  declaring  to  all  that  there  would  be  no  difference  for 
him  between  London  and  Edinburgh. 

Six  years  later,  the  Bishops  were  given  the  right  to  preach 
in  churches,  and  when,  in  1617,  James  returned  for  his  first 
visit,  it  was  a  bishop  who  welcomed  him  to  St.  Giles. 
Then  arose  continuous  controversy  over  the  point  of 
kneeling  at  the  Communion  service  ;  King  James  was  as 
obstinate  as  his  opponents,  and  in  1625  he  died  —  or  as 
piously  recorded,  "  The  Lord  removed  him  out  of  the  way." 

For  many  years  the  building  had  been  divided  up  for 
three  congregations,  and  it  was  the  Great  Kirk  that  King 
Charles  attended  in  1633.  In  September  of  that  year,  the 
Diocese  of  Edinburgh  was  created,  with  St.  Giles  as  its 
Cathedral  Church.  Its  partition  walls  were  ordered  to  be 
taken  down,  and  a  year  later  the  Great  and  Little  Kirk  were 


EDI  S  BURGH 


"3 


one,  but  under  plea  of  "  no  money  "  for  repairs  the  wall, 
shutting  off  the  Tolbooth,  was  left  untouched. 

Forbes,  the  first  Bishop,  was  a  man  of  gentle,  even  saintly, 
character,  and  his  death,  in  1635,  was  deeply  regretted. 

Then  King  Charles,  determined  that  his  Service  Book 
should  be  used  daily,  provoked  a  storm  through  the 
medium  of  the  notorious  Jenny  Geddes.  The  tumult  which 
followed  has  become  historic,  and  from  smallest  cause 
followed  greatest  result — exit  Episcopacy. 

After  the  battle  of  Dunbar,  Cromwell  and  his  inde- 
pendents ruled  in  St.  Giles,  and  then  "great  numbers  of 
that  damnable  sect  the  Quakers  "  were  also  seen  in  congre- 
gation. The  more  we  read  of  this  period  of  struggle 
between  Episcopalians,  Covenanter?,  Independents,  and 
"  damnable  sects,"  the  more  one  feels  saddened  that  such 
things  were  said  and  done  under  guise  of  religious  zeal. 
Better  far  is  the  charity  that  produces  extreme  tolerance. 

The  King  had  come  to  his  own  again  in  1660,  the 
Bishops  returned  also,  and  one  year  later  Montrose's  funeral 
was  one  of  the  great  occasions  of  St.  Giles.  Christmas  Day 
was  joyfully  kept ;  the  Covenanters  were  persecuted  ;  and 
in  1682  Argyll  was  executed  and  his  head  placed  on  a  spike 
on  the  East  gable. 

In  1685  James  VII.  succeeded  Charles,  and  toleration  for 
Roman  Catholic  produced  the  same  for  Presbyterian — again 
a  sturdy  fighter  in  thanking  the  King  with  a  rider — "that 
he  would  rather  want  toleration  than  let  Papists  have  it  too." 
The  struggle  between  Episcopacy  and  Presbyterianism 
was  renewed,  each  reviling  the  other  ;  and  to  the  execra- 
tion of  "  damnable  sects  "  was  now  added  a  fear  of  witch- 
craft. When  King  William's  Commissioner  sat  in  St. 
Giles,  a  black  cat  appeared  and  walked  across  his  cushion, 
and  every  one  said  it  was  Lady  Stair,  well  known  to  be  a 
wicked  witch.  (When  we  read  The  Bride  of  Lammermoor, 
let  us  recall  that  this  lady  was  the  original  of  Lucy  Ashton's 
mother.)  A  solemn  religious  service  next  commemorated 
the  Union  of  the  Parliaments  in  1707  ;  Whitfield  preached 
9 


"4 


EDIXBURGH 


on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Edinburgh  ;  and  in  1736 
occurred  that  stirring  scene  of  the  escape  of  Robertson 
and  the  consequent  Porteous  Riots,  so  graphically  told  in 
The  Heart  of  Midlothian. 

Then  came  a  notable  and  silent  Sunday  for  St.  Giles. 
Bonnie  Prince  Charlie  presided  at  Holyrood,  and  the 
ministers,  not  so  boldly  defiant  as  were  their  predecessors, 
on  this  occasion  found  discretion  to  be  the  better  part  of 
valour,  and  so  stayed  at  home.  For  who  was  King  ? 
Charles  or  George  ?  Culloden  settled  that  point,  and  the 
bells  of  St.  Giles  made  merry  for  King  George. 

From  that  day  until  the  so-called  restoration  of  1829,  all 
regard  for  the  ancient  building  was  lacking.  Dirt,  disorder, 
everything  opposed  to  one's  sense  of  decency  prevailed 
until  Dr.  Chambers  took  up  his  herculean  task,  now  so 
beautifully  completed  that  one  must  dive  into  minute  details 
in  order  to  comprehend  the  perfection  of  his  work  which 
ended  only  with  his  life. 

After  such  record,  who  would  deny  to  St.  Giles  its  place 
and  precedence  in  the  History  of  Scottish  Churches  ? 


KIRKWALL 


St.  Magnus.  Kali  or  Earl  Rogxvald. 

i  137  A.D. 

"  Ye  holy  walls  that  still  sublime 
Resist  the  crumbling  touch  of  time, 
How  strongly  still  your  form  displays 
The  piety  of  ancient  days." 

THE  story  of  Kirkwall,  the  Church  on  the  Bay — and 
of  Magnus,  Earl  and  Saint,  to  whose  honoured 
memory  that  church  was  built  by  his  irate  yet  grate- 
ful kinsman — belongs  in  reality  more  to  secular  than 
to  ecclesiastic  history.  The  layman  rather  than  the  church- 
man predominates  therein,  just  as  in  our  own  day  the 
layman's  enthusiasm  makes  the  living  Church.  For  as  we 
gaze  on  this,  "the  most  majestic  Romanesque  church  in 
Scotland,"  knowing  its  story,  we  shall  unconsciously  realise 
that  life  was  as  real  as  earnest  to  our  forefathers,  the  North- 
men, as  to  ourselves.  If  fighting  and  feeding  be  popularly 
attributed  as  their  highest  ambitions,  we,  their  descendants, 
have  not  eliminated  such  carnal  desires  but  rather  find 
them  accentuated  problems  for  the  millions  in  our  lower 
social  orders. 

The  saints  of  past  centuries  have  become,  under  Protestant 
tuition,  more  or  less  ethereal  beings  in  our  estimation  ;  but 
standing  here,  we  must  feel  that  Magnus  was  a  man,  full  of 
human  passions  as  well  as  of  human  ideals — a  muscular 


1x6 


KIRKWALL 


Christian  would  be  our  modern  term  for  him.  In  the  story 
of  his  life  we  shall  find  nothing  beyond  credence,  nothing 
wildly  improbable,  rather  commonplaceness  serving  as  dis- 
tinctly refreshing  interlude  in  ecclesiological  record.  To  he 
commonplace  is  to  be  human,  with  frailties  and  weaknesses ; 
a  love  of  life  no  less  than  a  fearlessness  of  death,  jealousy, 
bickerings,  popularity,  enthusiasm,  all  these  were  in  Magnus, 
as  they  are  in  every  good  soldier  of  the  King,  the  Country, 
and  the  Church.  So,  if  in  one  word  we  were  required  to 
sum  up  what  has  been  as  keystone  to  the  production  of 
this  building,  we  find  it  in  that  one  of  myriad-meaning 
—Life. 

There  is  an  enthusiasm,  expressed  by  those  who  are  com- 
petent to  judge  of  the  architectural  beauty  and  order  of  St. 
Magnus's  Church,  that  is  distinctly  inspiring.  Peterkin  says  : 
"  It  is  one  of  the  two  Cathedral  Churches  in  Scotland, 
remaining  entire,  and  is,  therefore,  a  national  monument, 
interesting  from  its  antiquity,  its  beauty,  and  the  rarity  of 
such  relics  in  this  part  of  the  empire."  That  strong  phrase, 
"a  national  monument,"  deserves  our  attention ;  ignorance 
of  one's  national  monuments  is  criminal  in  these  days  of 
popular  education.  Near  to  the  Church  stand  the  ruins  of 
the  palaces  of  the  earls  and  bishops  ;  and  if  we  would  know 
clearly  of  Magnus  the  Saint,  we  must  first  learn  of  Magnus 
the  Earl  and  his  predecessors,  the  Norwegian  Earls  in  the 
Orkneys. 

Since  the  Reformation,  this  Church  has  been  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  Scotland,  as  suc- 
cessor to  the  disestablished  Latin  Church  ;  but  not  until 
1472  did  the  Archbishop  of  Drontheim,  in  Norway,  lose  his 
superiority ;  and  most  interesting,  as  well  as  at  first  con- 
fusing, shall  we  find  the  story  of  the  Bishops  from  Norway 
with  their  rivals  (in  name  only)  consecrated  at  York  under 
Canterbury  ;  then  of  the  Bishops  of  Caithness  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews.  Magnus, 
without  the  Earls  ;  the  Earls,  without  the  Bishops  ;  the  Earls 
and  Bishops,  without  the  Kings  of  Norway  and  Scotland,  is- 


KIRKWALL 


"7 


each  insufficient  as  subject ;  so  as  briefly  as  possible  we 
shall  unite  their  stories,  and  then  approach  the  Church  a 
second  time  with  clearer-seeing  eye,  with  keener  sense  of 
appreciation  in  its  beauty. 

The  Orcadians  are  not  Scots,  for  the  islands  only  became 
Crown  property  as  part  of  the  dowry  of  Margaret  of  Norway, 
most  pious  Queen  of  James  III.  (she  it  is  who  most  fittingly 
supplies  the  subject  for  the  story  of  Sir  Patrick  Spens' 
expedition).  But  these  islands  were  given  in  lieu  of  money 
dowry  to  be  held  under  redemption  bond,  and  we  must 
admit  that  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  claims 
for  said  redemption,  though  ratified  by  successive  kings, 
were  refused  hearing  in  Scottish  courts.  With  this  preamble 
we  must  now  begin  at  the  beginning. 

The  Roman  historian  Pomponius  Mela,  in  45  A.D.,  refers 
to  the  belief  that  Britain  was  an  island,  and  that  certain 
islands,  the  Orcades,  lay  to  the  north  of  it.  Then,  after  the 
battle  of  Mons  Grampus,  Agricola  directed  his  fleet  to  sail 
round  the  coast,  and  in  course  thereof  "they  took  possession 
of  Orcades  in  name  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  and  a  peak  to 
the  north,  they  concluded,  might  be  the  mysterious  and 
unvisited  Thule.  We  find  our  next  Roman  reference  in  the 
poet  Claudian's  praise  of  Constantine  and  his  deeds,  when  he 
tells  us  that  the  Saxons  had  formed  their  headquarters  in 
Orcades.  But  the  many  Celtic  relics — crosses  with  and 
without  Ogham  inscriptions,  standing  stones,  Pictish  houses, 
Round  Towers,  &c. — prove  incontestably  that  Pictish  and 
Celtic  influence  prevailed  therein  for  centuries.  We  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  St.  Brendan  touched  at  the 
Orcades  in  his  famous  voyage.  When  we  examine  the 
native  records,  we  find  Xennius,  in  his  Historia  Britonum  of 
date  858  A. D.,  speaks  of  the  Picts  in  possession  of  the  Orkneys 
then  ;  and  that  four  hundred  years  previous,  the  Saxon 
chiefs  Octlitha  and  Ebissa,  who  came  over  with  "  forty 
keels"  in  449  A.D.,  laid  waste  the  islands  and  seized  many 
regions  beyond  the  Frisic  Sea  (Firth  of  Forth).  In 
Adamnan's  Life  of  St.  Columba,  we  read  of  the  Saint's 


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memorable  visit  to  Brude,  King  of  the  Northern  Picts,  at 
his  stronghold  on  the  river  Ness,  and  the  Saint's  request 
that  Brude  should  use  his  influence  on  behalf  of  Cormac 
and  his  missionaries,  then  on  their  way  to  Orkney  (as  Brude 
held  Orcadian  hostages  in  his  power,  and  as  one  of  the 
reguli  of  the  Orkneys  was  also  at  his  Court,  Cormac  was 
spared  from  a  violent  death).  In  the  annals  of  Ulster,  under 
date  580  A.D.,  Aedan,  son  of  Gabran,  seventh  king  of  the 
Dalriad  Scots,  made  expedition  against  Orkney.  For  a 
century  there  is  silence  ;  and  then,  under  date  682  A.D., 
another  Brude,  of  the  Picts,  raided  the  islands  and  evidently 
regained  their  allegiance  to  Northern  Pictland. 

The  Irish  monk  Dicuil,  in  his  treatise  Dc  mensura  Orbis 
terrarum,  about  date  825  A.D.,  gives  most  interesting  and 
detailed  particulars  of  Thule  (Iceland)  and  other  groups  of 
islands,  at  varying  distances  from  the  Pictish  coast.  Then, 
in  the  Norwegian  account  of  the  settlement  of  Iceland,  they 
found  Irishmen — "  Papas" — who  left  Irish  books,  bells,  and 
crosiers.  So,  from  three  independent  sources,  we  prove  that 
the  Christian  faith  was  taught  in  these  islands  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Norwegians,  and  to  this  day,  "  Papa  "  as  a 
topographical  name  proclaims  its  Christian  origin,  such  as 
Papa  Westray,  Papa  Stronsay,  Papa  Stour,  and  many  more. 
In  Irish  records,  we  shall  find  the  name  Ostmen  applied  to 
Scandinavians  ;  and  in  Scandinavian  records,  the  Irish  are 
called  Westmen. 

Earl  Magnus,  who  was  canonised,  was  a  Norwegian 
Christian,  yet  none  the  less  we  find  that  Olaf  Tryggveson 
was  baptised  by  an  Irish  Abbot  of  a  celebrated  abbey  on 
the  Skellig  Islands,  and  that  during  his  long  residence  with 
his  brother-in-law,  King  Olaf  Kvaran  in  Dublin,  he  deter- 
mined to  Christianise  Norway.  One  of  Norway's  saints  is 
the  Irish  Princess  Sunneva,  buried  in  Christ  Church, 
Bergen;  and  in  Iceland  we  find  a  church  to  Saint  Columba, 
and  a  fiord  named  St.  Patrick,  all  clearly  proving  the 
Celtic  origin  of  Orcadian  Christianity.  Its  second  intro- 
duction by  Olaf  in  997  A. D.  was  summary,  reminding  one  of 


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Mohammed's  methods,  and  recalling,  too,  the  lines  from 
Piers  Plowman — 

"And  there  shall  come  a  King 
And  confess  you  religious 
And  beat  you,  as  the  Bible  teacheth." 

Earl  Sigurd  the  Stout  was  a  pagan  and  an  enemy  of 
Malcolm  II.  of  Scotland.  As  Sigurd  lay  under  the  Isle  of 
Hoy,  with  one  ship,  King  Olaf  seized  him  unawares  and  in 
his  new  zeal  offered  one  alternative  or  death.  He  must  be 
baptised  as  a  Christian  immediately,  take  oath  to  become 
Olaf's  man,  and  afterwards  proclaim  Christianity  over  the 
Orkneys.  As  hostage  for  the  observance  of  this  treaty,  Olaf 
carried  off  to  Norway  Sigurd's  son  Hundi  and  in  exile 
Hundi  died. 

And  now,  as  we  touch  closely  at  this  point  on  contem- 
porary events  in  Scotland,  a  brief  sketch  of  the  Earls  of 
Orkney  is  necessary,  and  how  as  Norwegians  they  came 
there.  In  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  under  date  787  A.D.,  we 
read  of  the  first  three  ships  of  Northmen  from  Haeretha- 
Land  (Norway).  The  Irish  and  Welsh  Chronicles  tell  of 
their  arrival  in  Ireland  in  795  A.D. ;  in  the  Hebrides  and  Isle 
of  Man,  798  A.D.  ;  of  ravages  on  Iona,  802  and  806  A.D.,  at 
which  date  sixty-eight  of  the  family  were  slain.  A  few 
years  later,  Armagh  became  the  capital  of  the  Norsemen  in 
Ireland  ;  and  in  852  A.D.  Olaf  the  White  conquered  Dublin. 
All  these  various  Viking  expeditions  had  made  the  Orkney 
and  Shetland  Islands  their  rendezvous  whence  they  swept 
the  coasts  at  will.  Meanwhile,  Harold  Harfagri  had  made 
himself  master  of  Norway  in  872  A.D. ;  and  the  many 
Odallers  (freeholders),  from  whom  he  took  their  lands,  fled 
as  malcontents  to  the  Orcades,  now  to  become  another 
centre  of  retaliating  raiders  on  the  coasts  and  settlements  of 
Norway.  This  enraged  Harold,  who,  gathering  a  "mighty 
fleet,"  cleared  the  islands,  then  sweeping  down  through  the 
Hebrides  to  Man  claimed  the  whole  chain  as  part  of  his 
kingdom.    The  Southern  Islands  were  then  called  Sudreys, 


120 


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and  to  this  day  the  English  Bishopric  of  Sodor  and  Man 
tells  its  own  tale  of  former  Norwegian  dominion.  Suther- 
land the  county,  and  as  natural  sequence  Sutherland  the 
surname,  have  similar  origin.  In  this  foray  Ivar,  son  of 
Rognvald,  was  slain,  and  in  the  Island  of  Sanday  we  still 
see  "Ivar's  Knowe,"  which  may  be  his  burial  cairn.  As 
recompense  for  the  death  of  his  son,  according  to  early  law, 
Harold  conferred  the  lands  and  title  of  Earl  of  the  Orkneys 
on  Rognvald,  who,  however,  soon  preferred  his  home  in 
Norway,  and  so  made  over  his  new  possession  and  title  to 
his  brother  Sigurd,  the  first  Earl  to  figure  prominently  in  the 
Orkney-inga  Saga. 

Sigurd  found  an  ally  in  Thorstein,  son  of  King  Olaf  of 
Dublin,  and  they,  crossing  the  Pentland  Firth,  seized  Caith- 
ness and  Sutherland  and  ravaged  Ross  and  Moray.  In 
Cyder  Hall,  near  Dornoch,  we  have  modern  transposition  of 
Sigurd's  How  or  grave,  for  as  William  the  Conquerer  died 
from  the  effects  of  a  trivial  accident,  so  did  fierce  Earl 
Sigurd.  The  projecting  tooth  from  a  Scot's  decapitated 
head  grazed  his  leg  as  it  swung  at  his  saddle  bow,  the 
wound  inflamed,  and  Sigurd  never  again  saw  the  Orkneys. 
Thorstein,  his  ally  and  successful  ravager,  made  peace  with 
the  King  of  Scots  "and  obtained  possession  of  the  half  of 
Scotland."  Then  Thorstein  was  slain  by  treachery.  When 
Rognvald  heard  of  his  brother  Sigurd's  death,  he  again 
received  from  King  Harald  the  Orkneys  for  his  son  Hallad, 
who,  as  his  father  did  before,  quickly  returned  to  Norway. 
Then  Einar,  a  brother,  took  his  place,  and  connected  with 
his  name  we  read  of  one  of  those  terrible  acts  of  reparation 
and  personal  torture  which  only  Christianity  can  expel  from 
men's  actions.  King  Harald's  cruel  sons  had  surrounded 
and  burned  Earl  Rognvald  and  sixty  of  his  men  in  his  own 
house,  and  then  sailed  west  to  exterminate  Einar  and  his 
men.  But  Einar  was  on  the  alert ;  he  captured  Halfdan, 
the  chief  delinquent,  and  "cut  a  blood-eagle  on  his  back." 
(This  was  done  by  hewing  the  ribs  from  the  backbone  and 
tearing  out  the  heart  and  lungs.)    Sixty  marks  in  gold  was 


KIRKWALL 


I  2  I 


demanded  of  Einar  by  King  Harald  for  this  offence,  and 
the  Odallers  pledged  their  lands  to  Einar  as  equivalent  for 
their  share  of  the  fine. 

Einar's  son  Thorfinn  married  the  granddaughter  of 
Thorstein,  and  so  the  earldoms  of  Orkney  and  Caithness 
became  united.  Cruelty  and  bloodshed  marked  the  succes- 
sive Earls  until  Sigurd  the  Stout,  great  grandson  of  Einar, 
comes  to  his  earldom  and  demands  our  notice.  As  before 
said,  he  was  pagan  until  violently  converted  by  Olaf ;  he 
was  also  inveterate  enemy  of  Malcolm  II.  of  Scotland  ;  and 
though  the  Scots  numbered  as  seven  to  one  against  his 
followers,  he  restored  to  his  men  their  odal  lands  taken  by 
Einar;  they  fought  like  "wild  cats,"  and  the  Scots  were 
driven  back.  (This  is  important  record  for  us  who  think  of 
wealth  under  the  medium  of  stocks,  shares,  and  bonds.  To 
our  Saxon  forefathers,  "land  was  the  only  wealth,  its  owner- 
ship the  sole  foundation  of  power,  privilege  or  dignity." 
Many  an  inheritor  of  these  ancient  acres  is  now  spoken  of 
commiseratingly  as  "land-poor.")  Reconciliation  followed, 
and  Sigurd  married  as  second  wife  a  daughter  of  King 
Malcolm,  an  elder  sister  of  the  wife  of  Crinan,  Abbot  of 
Dunkeld  (the  son  of  exiled  Hundi),  whose  son  was  the 
"  Gentle  Duncan."  So  the  intertwining  links  of  the  his- 
torical chain  of  facts  are  of  the  Church  as  well  as  of  the 
Earldom  and  the  Throne.  This  Earl  Sigurd  has  very  in- 
teresting personality  for  us.  He  was  certainly  a  convert  in 
name,  though  not  in  heart,  for  his  faith  in  his  raven  banner, 
"woven  with  mighty  spells"  by  his  Irish  mother,  was  still 
firm.  Twenty  years  afterwards,  he  died  in  the  great  battle 
of  Clontarf,  1014,  fighting  against  the  Christian  Brian  Boru. 
It  was  at  Clontarf  that  "  the  old  and  new  faiths  met  in  the 
lists  face  to  face  for  their  last  struggle,"  and  Convert  Sigurd 
shared  the  fate  of  the  Pagans.  He  was  slain  by  Brian's 
son  as  he  held  up  his  own  banner.  Its  destiny  was  thus 
fulfilled,  for  the  predicted  spell  woven  therein  was  "  Victory 
for  those  behind  it,  death  to  the  bearer."  Twice  had  it 
been  dropped  by  dead  hand;  Sigurd  called  in  vain  for  a 


122 


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bearer,  then  saying,  "  Tis  fittest  that  the  beggar  should  bear 
the  bag,"  he  picked  it  up  and  met  his  fate  bravely.  The 
weaving  of  the  woof  of  war  was  sung  over  his  death  in 
Caithness  and  the  North  by  the  twelve  weird  sisters. 

"  The  woof  y- woven 
With  entrails  of  men, 
The  warp  hard-weighted 
With  heads  of  the  slain." 

Alas  !  that  such  still  remains,  though  silent,  the  song  of 
Christian  warfare.  When,  in  our  modern  love  for  Wagner's 
music,  we  hear  Valkyrie,  we  seldom  realise  that  in  Scottish 
annals  we  can  find  such  pagan  requiem  over  him  whose 
grandson  Duncan  had  Saint  Margaret  for  his  stepmother. 
Its  weird  sisters  and  singers  make  us  the  better  realise  the 
Witches— weird  women — in  the  Macbeth  tragedy. 

Thorfinn,  his  boy  of  five  years  old,  was  now  backed  by 
his  grandfather  King  Malcolm,  but  his  three  half-brothers 
fought  for  their  rights,  and  when  Duncan  succeeded 
Malcolm,  he  demanded  tribute  from  his  cousin  Thorfinn 
for  his  earldom  of  Caithness.  Thorfinn  refused,  retaliated, 
and  ravaged  Scotland  "as  far  south  as  Fife."  We  again 
recall  Shakespere's  Macbeth,  who  drove  back  the  "  fierce 
Norweyans"  and  earned  Duncan's  gratitude.  Thorfinn 
had  inherited  his  father  Sigurd's  personal  bravery.  His 
exploits  were  many,  and  one  particularly  deserves  notice,  as 
illustrative  of  ancient  laws  of  hospitality.  King  Magnus  of 
Norway  was  his  avowed  enemy  ;  Thorfinn,  wrapped  in  a 
white  cloak,  rowed  up  to  the  King's  ship,  climbed  to  the 
quarterdeck  where  Magnus  sat  at  meat,  seized  a  loaf,  broke 
and  ate  it.  The  King  handed  a  cup  of  wine  to  the  stranger, 
and  then  learned  too  late  that  he  was  Earl  Thorfinn, 
who  had  thus  earned  temporary  respite  from  royal 
vengeance.  The  leaven  of  Christian  faith  was,  however, 
working  within  him  ;  he  left  Norway,  passed  through  Den- 
mark, thence  through  Germany,  and  reached  Rome,  seeking 
absolution  for  his  many  sins  and  murders.  Macbeth  did 
likewise  ;  how  interesting  for  us  had  some  Chronicler  of 


KIRKWALL 


riotous  imagination  told  of  their  meeting  on  the  banks  of 
Father  Tiber.  Many  of  our  "  well-established  errors  "  have 
slighter  basis  of  truth.  Thorfinn  the  Reformed  returned, 
ruled  his  people  well,  built  Christ's  Church  in  Birsay,  and 
established  there  the  first  Bishop's  See  in  the  Orkneys.  A 
Norwegian  reintroduction  of  Christianity  in  one  sense,  but 
we  must  claim  even  it  as  half  Celtic.  His  mother  was  Celt, 
his  grandfather  and  supporter  Celt,  his  uncle  by  marriage 
Abbot  Crinan  of  the  Celtic  Church,  and  the  Irish  Celts  had 
converted  Olaf  who  made  his  father  Sigurd  a  Convert  per- 
force. Before  saying  farewell  to  Earl  Thorfinn,  we  find 
that  his  widow  Ingibiorg  afterwards  married  Malcolm  III., 
the  son  of  his  gentle  cousin  Duncan,  and  their  son,  another 
Duncan,  was  rightful  heir  and  no  bastard  half-brother  to 
David  and  the  other  church-building  sons  of  Queen  Mar- 
garet, as  is  so  often  popularly  asserted. 

Now  we  link  the  story  further  afield.  Thorfin's  sons, 
Paul  and  Erlend,  were  present  at  the  battle  of  Stamford 
Bridge,  when  Harold  Harefoot  (afterwards  killed  at 
Hastings)  defeated  King  Harald  of  Norway.  They  re- 
turned therefrom  to  Orkney  and  ruled  the  islands  in 
peace  till  their  sons,  Hakon  and  Magnus,  grown  to  man- 
hood, brought  in  discord.  Hakon,  the  son  of  Paul,  had 
pagan  sympathies ;  he  consulted  a  spae-man  in  Sweden  as 
to  the  future  (we  still  use  the  term  spae-wife  for  a  fortune- 
teller in  Scotland),  thus  proving  hereditary  tendencies  from 
Sigurd  "to  the  third  and  fourth  generations,"  and  he 
induced  King  Magnus  to  invade  Scotland.  Malcolm 
Caenmore  and  Margaret  were  both  dead,  and  Donald 
Bane  (who  fled  with  Malcolm  from  Macbeth)  had  become 
the  proverbial  "wicked  uncle"  to  Malcolm's  sons.  Duncan, 
the  so-called  bastard,  and  Margaret's  sons  were  all  claimants 
for  the  throne,  and  King  Magnus  Barefoot  supported 
Donald  Bane  after  Duncan's  death  in  1095.  He  very 
summarily  ended  the  disputes  of  the  brother  Earls,  Paul 
and  Erlend,  by  carrying  off  both  and  placing  his  son 
Sigurd  in  their  stead. 


i*4 


From  Church  records  we  learn  the  new  story  of  Hakon 
and  Magnus,  the  cousins  at  discord.  From  the  Scala  Cronica 
we  know  that  Earl  Paul  had  sent  to  Lanfranc  of  Canterbury 
"a  cleric  whom  he  wished  to  be  consecrated  as  Bishop"  ; 
but  in  Lanfranc's  letter  to  the  Bishops  of  Worcester  and 
Chester,  ordering  them  to  proceed  to  York  and  consecrate 
this  nameless  cleric,  we  find  no  clue  to  his  identity, 
though  in  another  record,  Ralph,  Bishop  of  Orkney,  is 
named.  Then  Anselm,  Lanfranc's  successor,  wrote  to  Earl 
Hakon  "  exhorting  him  and  his  people  to  obey  the 
Bishop  whom  now  by  the  grace  of  God  they  had."  So 
we  learn  therefrom  that  Anselm,  as  well  as  the  "spae- 
man,"  had  sway  over  Hakon's  mind.  In  after  years  his 
conduct  proved  that  "  worship  the  devil  that  he  may  do 
you  no  harm"  was  as  valuable  in  his  sight  as  any  text  from 
Scripture. 

Earl  Magnus,  his  cousin,  meanwhile  had  become  a  man 
of  peace  and  an  earnest  Christian.  When  King  Magnus 
sent  his  father  Erlend  to  Norway,  he  planned  his  great  ex- 
pedition (proposed  by  Hakon)  against  the  Western  Islands. 
The  Saga  tells  us  that  he  took  Hakon  and  Magnus  with 
him.  He  ravaged  Lewis,  Skye,  Uist,  Tiree,  and  Mull,  but 
spared  Iona  on  account  of  the  sanctity  of  St.  Oran's  Chapel 
— as  told  in  the  story  of  Iona — Islay  and  Kin  tyre  followed 
in  line ;  then  the  Isle  of  Man  ;  and  in  Bretland  (Wales)  he 
fought  a  great  battle  in  Anglesea  Sound  with  the  Earls  of 
Chester  and  Shrewsbury.  When  the  men  prepared  for 
fight,  Magnus  (young  Earl)  would  not  take  up  arms.  In 
reply  to  the  furious  King's  question  as  to  his  refusal  he  said, 
"  Here  is  no  man  who  has  done  me  wrong."  So  he  was 
ordered  to  "  Go  down  below,  and  do  not  lie  among  other 
people's  feet  if  you  dare  not  fight,  for  I  do  not  believe 
that  you  do  this  from  religious  motives."  Magnus  took 
a  psalter  and  sang  during  the  battle,  and  did  not  shelter 
himself.  But  when  all  was  over  and  the  Norwegian  king 
victorious  he  vented  his  serious  displeasure  on  Magnus  the 
Christian,  who  served  as  a  waiter  at  his  table.    During  the 


KIRKWALL 


125 


night  Magnus  stole  away  to  the  woods  and  when  morning 
came  he  could  not  be  found.  He  made  his  way  to  "  Mal- 
colm, King  of  Scots,  at  Dunfermline"  (though  dates  prove  it 
must  have  been  to  King  Edgar's  Court  he  went).  He  also 
went  for  a  year  to  the  Court  of  Henry  Beauclerc  where 
"good  Queen  Maud"  ruled,  and  then  to  a  bishop's  house 
in  Brentland,  and  returned  not  to  Orkney  so  long  as  King 
Magnus  lived. 

On  return  from  this  famed  expedition,  King  Magnus 
ordered  his  boat  to  be  dragged  across  Kintyre  (at  Tarbert), 
he  himself  holding  the  helm,  and  thus  gained  possession. 
At  last  the  "  terrible  king"  died  in  a  skirmish  with  the  Irish 
in  Ulster  in  1103,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Patrick's  Church  in 
Down.  His  son  Sigurd  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Norway 
and  we  have  Earl  Hakon  in  the  Orkneys  again. 

Now  we  shall  turn  to  the  Saga  for  the  story  of  Earl 
Magnus,  who  several  years  afterwards  came  from  Scotland 
and  wished  to  take  possession  of  his  patrimony.  The  Bamdr 
(Odals)  were  very  pleased  ;  not  so  Hakon,  and  not  until  the 
King  of  Norway  permitted  would  Hakon  give  up  Magnus's 
share.  "The  holy  Magnus  was  a  most  excellent  man.  He 
was  of  large  stature,  a  man  of  a  noble  presence  and  intel- 
lectual countenance.  He  was  of  blameless  life,  victorious 
in  battle,  wise,  eloquent,  strong-minded,  liberal,  and  mag- 
nanimous, sagacious  in  counsels,  and  more  beloved  than 
any  other  man.  To  wise  and  good  he  was  gentle  and 
affable  in  conversation,  but  severe  and  unsparing  with 
robbers  and  vikings.  Many  of  those  who  plundered  the 
landowners  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  he  caused  to 
be  put  to  death.  He  also  seized  murderers  and  thieves,  and 
punished  rich  and  poor  impartially  for  robberies  and  thefts 
of  all  kinds.  He  was  just  in  his  judgments  and  had  more 
respect  to  Divine  justice  than  difference  in  the  estates  of 
men.  He  gave  large  presents  to  chiefs  and  rich  men,  yet 
the  greatest  share  of  his  liberality  was  given  to  the  poor. 
In  all  things  he  strictly  obeyed  the  Divine  commands,  and 
he  chastened  his  body  in  many  things  which  in  his  glorious 


126 


KIRKWALL 


life  were  known  to  God  but  hidden  from  men."  Enough, 
surely,  to  raise  him  in  our  day  to  be  as  a  king  amongst 
men,  but  at  a  time  when  "might  was  right"  we  can 
realise  that  "to  punish  rich  and  poor  impartially"  was  also 
sure  method  of  making  enemies,  and  the  natural  result  is 
given  in  the  next  story  of  the  Saga  :  "  Hakon  was  very 
jealous  of  the  popularity  and  greatness  of  his  kinsman 
Magnus,"  and  ever  at  his  elbow  were  evil  counsellors  to 
fan  his  flame  into  fierce  hate.  Angry  words  passed  between 
the  cousins,  then  warriors  were  called  into  the  field,  but 
Lent  ever  brings  with  its  season  goodwill  and  desire  for 
peace. 

Treachery  was  but  sleeping,  however,  for  Earl  Hakon 
"  with  hypocrisy  and  fair  words "  invited  Earl  Magnus 
to  confirm  their  friendship  in  Pasch  week  at  Egilsey 
Church.  Each  one  was  to  take  two  ships  and  an  equal 
number  of  men.  Easter  was  gloriously  kept,  then  Magnus 
set  out  for  Egilsey.  The  water  was  smooth,  and  yet  as  they 
rowed  across,  a  breaker  out  of  the  deep  calm  water  almost 
swamped  their  boat.  Great  surprise  was  expressed  by  his 
men,  but  Earl  Magnus  accepted  it  as  a  sign  of  coming 
death. 

Meanwhile,  Hakon  had  gathered  all  his  men  in  eight 
ships,  and  announced  to  them  that  this  meeting  was  to 
decide  whether  Magnus  or  he  should  be  sole  ruler.  When 
Magnus  saw  him  coming  he  realised  the  treachery,  but 
calmly  entered  the  little  church  to  pray,  answering  his 
men's  offers  of  defence  thus  :  "  I  will  not  put  your  lives 
in  danger  for  mine.  .  .  .  Let  it  be  as  God  wills."  Then 
when  he  met  Hakon  he  offered  three  alternatives  :  First, 
"  that  he  should  sail  away  to  Rome,  Jerusalem,  and  the 
Holy  Places,  there  to  pray  for  the  souls  of  both,  never  again 
to  return  to  Orkney."  "No,"  was  the  prompt  rejoinder. 
"  My  life  is  in  your  hands,  send  me  to  Scotland  to  mutual 
friends ;  keep  me  in  custody  there  unable  to  escape." 
Again  refusal  met  his  request.  "There  is  yet  one  more 
offer  which  I  will  make,  and  God  knows  that  I  think  more 


KIRKWALL 


127 


of  your  soul  than  of  my  own  life,  for  it  were  better  that  you 
should  do  as  I  shall  offer  you  than  that  you  should  take  my 
life.  Let  me  be  maimed  as  you  like  or  deprived  of  my 
eyes,  and  throw  me  into  a  dark  dungeon."  To  this  Hakon 
agreed.  But  the  chiefs  said,  "  One  of  you  we  will  kill ;  you 
shall  not  both  rule  the  Orkneys."  "Slay  him,  then," quickly 
said  Hakon,  "for  I  will  rather  have  earldom  and  lands 
than  instant  death."  So  on  the  16th  of  April,  11 15,  the 
tragedy  of  Cain  and  Abel  again  took  place  between  these 
cousins  and  blood  brothers. 

The  story  of  Magnus's  death  as  told  by  Joseph  Robert- 
son is  so  beautiful  that  it  is  given  in  his  words  :  "Magnus 
had  prepared  himself  for  his  fate  with  Christian  humility, 
by  vigil  and  fervent  prayer,  by  contrite  tears  and  by 
devout  reception  of  the  Eucharist.  Yet  some  feeling  of 
the  warrior's  pride  appears  to  have  survived  to  mingle  with 
his  latest  thoughts.  'Stand  before  me,'  he  said  to  his 
executioner,  and  'strike  with  your  might  that  your  sword 
may  cleave  my  brain.  It  were  unseemly  that  an  Earl 
should  be  beheaded  like  a  thief.' " 

His  failings  were  forgotten  in  the  emotion  created  by  his 
death  ;  his  many  virtues  were  intensified  and  the  fragrance 
of  his  memory  grew  ever  sweeter  and  sweeter.  So  passed 
this  human  son  of  Erlend  into  saintship  and  the  reverent 
memories  of  men. 

When  we  speak  of  this  period  as  the  dark  ages,  let  us  also 
think  of  Margaret  and  Magnus,  bright  stars  redeeming  its 
grossness.  Margaret,  ideal  wife,  mother,  queen,  a  woman 
of  ability  and  intellect ;  Magnus,  capable,  manly,  self- 
sacrificing — a  true  hero  of  men.  Not  until  the  murdered 
Earl's  mother  besought  Hakon  with  tears  did  he  grant 
permission  for  the  body  to  be  buried.  Then  it  was  taken 
to  Christ's  Church  in  Birsay,  built  by  Earl  Thorfinn,  their 
grandfather.  Then  we  read  of  heavenly  light  around  the 
grave  ;  of  a  sweet  smell  which  healed  leprosy  and  other 
diseases  ;  of  pilgrims  and  sufferers  flocking  thereto  ;  also 
that  the  evil  advisers  of  Hakon  all  died  miserable  deaths. 


128 


KIRKWALL 


Hakon  then  went  to  Rome,  to  Jerusalem  for  sacred  relics, 
and  to  bathe  in  the  Jordan  ;  and  on  his  return  ruled  well, 
gave  better  laws  for  the  land,  and  died  a  popular  man.  He 
left  two  sons  ;  one  was  accidentally  poisoned,  recalling  the 
story  of  Hercules'  shirt,  and  Paul  was  left  as  sole  ruler.  Then 
a  claimant  arose  in  Kali,  the  son  of  a  sister  of  Earl  Magnus. 
He  earned  the  King  of  Norway's  permission  to  fight  for  his 
uncle's  share  of  the  islands,  and  vowed  by  that  uncle  and 
saint  that,  should  he  succeed,  he  would  build  and  endow  a 
"stone  minster"  at  Kirkwall  dedicated  to  St.  Magnus,  to 
whom  the  half  of  the  earldom  rightly  belonged."  Bishop 
William  assisted  him,  Earl  Paul  and  Kali  shared  the  islands, 
and  soon  afterwards  Paul  was  carried  off  a  prisoner  by  Svvein 
the  Viking  and  handed  over  to  the  custody  of  the  Earl  of 
Athole,  his  brother-in-law.    He  never  returned  to  Orkney, 
but  his  nephew  and  sister's  son  took  his  lands,  and  thus  we 
again  link  Dunkeld  and  Kirkwall  Cathedrals  in  their  early 
history.    Kali's  name  was  changed  to  Rognvald,  as  being 
more  lucky,  and  so  under  the  title  of  Earl  Rognvald  shall 
we  greet  him  henceforth  as  founder  of  St.  Magnus's  Church, 
which  most  truly,  as  Worsaae,  the  Danish  writer,  says,  "  is 
incontestably  the  most  glorious  monument  of  the  time  of  the 
Norwegian  dominion  to  be  found  in  Scotland."  Rognvald 
was  a  man  of  strong  action  as  well  as  of  fair  words.    In  1 136, 
he  gained  his  uncle's  earldom;  in  1137,  masons'  chisels 
resounded  throughout  the  little  town   under  the  super- 
intendence of  Kol,  the  Earl's  father.     Busier  and  ever 
busier  grew  this  hum  of  industry,  and  never  did  it  cease 
till  the  Earl's  purse  was  empty.     By  the  advice  of  Kol, 
Jarl  Rognvald   summoned  the  Thing   (Parliament)  and 
offered  to  readjust  the  land  laws.    Hitherto,  on  the  death 
of  an  Odal,  his  lands  fell  to  the   Earl  and  had   to  be 
redeemed   again    by  the  children.     Rognvald   now  pro- 
posed to  accept  a  mark  for  every  ploughland  (acre)  so 
that  the  erection  of  the  church  might  go  on. 

Sir  Henry  Dryden,  our  best  authority,  says  :  "  The  church, 
as  designed  and  partly  built  in  the  time  of  Kol,  was  of  the 


KIRKWALL 


120 


same  width  as  at  present,  but  possibly  one  bay  shorter  at  the 
west  end.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  choir  termi- 
nated in  an  apse,  which  began  about  half-way  along  the 
great  piers,  in  front  of  the  subsequent  altar-steps,  and 
extended  as  far  as  the  line  of  those  steps.  The  builders, 
having  laid  out  the  whole  church,  carried  up  the  choir  and 
its  two  aisles  and  the  transepts  to  the  eaves,  and  built  the 
piers  of  the  central  tower.  Though  I  spent  eighteen  weeks 
at  the  Cathedral,  and  have  thought  over  the  thing  many 
times,  I  cannot  make  out  the  history  of  the  building  to  my 
own  satisfaction.  There  is  no  doubt  that  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  copying  in  it  (of  building  at  one  time  in  the  style  of 
another)."  Anderson,  editor  of  the  Saga,  adds  :  "  The  chief 
interest  of  the  structure  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  was  built  by  a 
Norwegian  Earl,  and  designed  and  superintended  by  the 
Norwegian  Kol,  who  had  the  principal  oversight  of  the 
whole  work.  It  is  significant  of  their  community  of  origin 
that  the  oldest  portions  of  St.  Magnus  show  traces  of  the 
same  peculiarities  of  style  which  are  found  in  the  nearly 
contemporary  but  somewhat  older  Norman  churches  in 
Normandy,  the  home  of  the  Christian  descendants  of  the 
Vikings  who  followed  Hrolf  the  Ganger,  son  of  Rognvald, 
Earl  of  Moeri  (that  first  Rognvald  who  received  the  islands 
from  Harald  Harfagri).  Sir  Henry  Dryden  recognises  the 
following  styles  in  the  building — 1137  to  1160, 1160  to  1200, 
1200  to  1250,  1250  to  1350,  1450  to  1500." 

The  Cathedral  was  erected  as  a  shrine,  but  unlike  the 
story  of  Margaret  in  Dunfermline,  we  have  no  record  of  the 
actual  interment  of  Magnus  therein.  The  Saga  states  that 
his  relics  were  exhumed  by  Bishop  William,  twenty  years 
after  Magnus's  death,  and  placed  in  Christ's  Kirk ;  then  we 
have  the  story  of  a  dreamer  who  insisted  that  Magnus 
appeared  and  demanded  to  be  taken  east  to  Kirkwall,  but 
Bishop  William  feared  Earl  Paul's  anger  thereat.  In  spite 
of  the  same,  however,  they  were  moved  to  Kirkwall  and 
placed  on  the  altar  of  the  church  that  was  there.  This  must 
have  been  St.  Olaf's  Church,  seeing  that  the  Cathedral  was 
10 


KIRKWALL 


the  result  of  a  vow  against  Earl  Paul,  and  he  had  not  yet 
been  carried  off  to  Athole.  Now  we  know  that  St.  Olaf  was 
venerated  in  England  and  Scotland  as  well  as  on  the  Conti- 
nent. St.  Ola  is  now  the  name  of  the  rural  district.  The 
present  church  of  St.  Olaf — if  church  we  may  still  call  that 
which  has  been  so  mutable  in  fortune — may  stand  upon  the 
site  of  that  earlier  temporary  sanctuary  for  Magnus's  bones. 

In  1 152,  Earl  Rognvald  and  Bishop  William,  after  a 
solemn  Thing-meeting,  sailed  away  for  Jerusalem  and  to 
bathe  in  the  Jordan ;  they  returned  by  Constantinople, 
Durazzo,  Apulia,  Rome,  thence  overland  to  Norway,  and 
home  after  an  absence  of  three  years.  In  1158,  Rognvald 
was  slain,  and  was  buried  in  his  own  Cathedral.  In  1154, 
Pope  Anastasius  recognised  Bishop  William  as  one  of  the 
suffragans  of  the  newly  erected  Metropolitan  See  of  Trond- 
heim,  and  ten  years  after  Rognvald,  William  the  Old,  Bishop 
for  sixty-six  years,  died  and  was  buried  in  his  Cathedral.  In 
1848,  when  repairs  were  being  done,  "his  bones  were  found 
enclosed  in  a  stone  cist  thirty  inches  long  and  fifteen  inches 
wide,  with  a  bone  object,  like  the  handle  of  a  staff,  and 
a  leaden  plate  inscribed  in  characters  apparently  of  the 
thirteenth  century  :  '  Hie  requiescit  Williamus  Senex,  felicis 
memoriae,  primus  Episcopus.'  "  From  their  position  in  the 
choir,  the  presumption  is  natural  that  they  had  been  moved 
from  their  original  resting  place.  The  cist  and  bones  dis- 
appeared in  1856,  but  the  plate  and  bone  handle  (?)  may  be 
seen  in  the  Antiquarian  Museum  in  Edinburgh. 

The  next  interment  of  note  was  that  of  King  Hakon  or 
Haco,  who,  in  the  reign  of  Alexander  III.,  was  defeated  in 
the  Battle  of  Largs,  in  1263.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Spanish 
Armada,  the  elements  of  the  deep  conspired  against  him,  and 
the  Scots  finished  the  disaster.  We  recall  the  story  of  the 
wraithes  of  Queen  Margaret  and  her  descendants  rising  from 
Dunfermline  Abbey  to  fight  for  their  country.  After  this 
battle,  Scotland  agreed  to  pay  tribute  of  100  marks  annually 
to  Norway  for  the  Western  Isles  and  Man,  and  henceforth 
they  are  included  in  Scottish  jurisdiction.   Broken  in  health 


KIRKWALL 


and  spirits — one  dare  not  apply  the  popular  term  "broken- 
hearted "  to  a  Viking  King — Hakon  reached  the  Orkneys, 
and  Bishop  Henry,  who  had  accompanied  him  on  the 
expedition,  took  him  home  to  his  palace,  where  he  died. 
He  was  buried  in  the  Cathedral,  but  his  body  was  afterwards 
removed  to  Bergen. 

Peace  was  established  between  the  countries,  and  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Alexander  III. — "Tamer  of  the  Ravens" — 
married  Eric,  the  "  priest-hater "  king  of  Norway.  After 
King  Alexander's  tragic  death,  his  seven  years  old  grand- 
daughter, another  Margaret,  "the  Maid  of  Norway"  so 
prominent  in  Scotland's  then  distracted  condition,  died  here 
of  "  sea-sickness  "  on  her  way  to  be  a  Queen.  Tradition 
says  she  was  buried  here,  and  Worsaae  upholds  this  belief, 
which,  however,  has  no  definite  authority  to  support  it.  On 
the  contrary  we  can  prove  that  she  was  buried  beside  her 
mother  in  Christ's  Church,  Bergen.  A  claimant  appeared 
in  1300  in  Bergen  and  excited  the  Court  by  her  story  that 
she  was  Princess  Margaret,  and  of  course  she  gained  a 
credible  following.  Impostors  ever  did  and  ever  will  do. 
Munch,  in  writing  of  this  false  Margaret,  says  of  our  little 
Princess  :  "Though  the  King's  daughter  Margaret  had  died 
in  the  presence  of  some  of  the  best  men  of  Norway,  though 
her  corpse  had  been  brought  back  by  the  Bishop  and  Herr 
Thore  Hakonson  to  King  Eirik,  who  himself  had  laid  it  in 
the  open  grave,  satisfied  himself  of  the  identity  of  his 
daughter's  remains,  and  placed  them  in  the  Christ's  Kirk,  by 
the  side  of  her  mother's,"  &c. 

Just  as  the  royal  tombs  of  Dunfermline  disappeared,  so 
too  did  they  in  Kirkwall.  "  The  Cathedral  naturally  received 
the  dust  of  most  of  the  Norwegian  jarls,  bishops,  and  other 
mighty  men  so  long  as  the  Norwegian  dynasty  lasted,  but 
for  their  monuments  we  now  seek  in  vain."  Rebuilding  and 
alterations  have  affected  the  interior  which  is  still  so  strikingly 
impressive.  This  most  majestic  of  all  the  Romanesque 
churches  of  Scotland  has  a  fine  Nave  of  eight  bays  and  a 
■Choir  (screened  off  as  Parish  Church)  of  six  bays.    "  The 


KIRKWALL 


long  perspective  of  the  great  round  pillars  and  arches  on 
each  side  of  the  nave,  surmounted  by  the  round  arched 
triforium  and  clerestory  cf  the  lofty  roof  covered  with  simple 
vaulting,  give  an  impression  of  size  and  height  which  is 
larger  than  is  borne  out  by  after  measurement.  The  Nave 
is  only  in  feet, and  the  Choir  85  feet  6  inches  in  length, and 
like  the  nave,  is  vaulted  with  triforium,  clerestory,  and  side 
aisles.  The  side  walls  are  arcaded  with  interlacing  Norman 
arches."  The  Transepts,  90  feet  in  length  by  17  feet  in 
width,  impress  one  by  their  height,  though  unvaulted  ;  and 
in  place  of  aisles,  an  Eastern  Chapel  is  attached  both  in 
North  and  South.  The  great  East  Window,  the  gift  of 
Bishop  Stewart  in  the  reign  of  James  IV.,  fills  up  all  available 
space.  It  is  over  37  feet  high  and  16  feet  6  inches  wide. 
Sir  Henry  Dryden  considers  the  great  rose  light  which 
expands  over  arches  and  mullions  as  "  quite  peculiar  and 
unique."  It  casts  even  the  famed  rose  window  of  Carlisle 
Cathedral  into  shade,  and  a  second  is  seen  in  the  South 
Transept.  The  three  western  doorways  are  certainly  un- 
equalled in  England,  owing  to  the  effective  alternation  of 
red  and  yellow  sandstone,  producing  a  Moorish  effect  in 
softer  colouring  and  very  much  finer  than  the  work  in 
Worcester  and  Bristol.  In  the  interior  of  nave  and  choir, 
the  use  of  building  stone  in  various  shades  of  colour  in- 
dicates the  different  styles  and  periods  of  erection  and 
reconstruction. 

The  Tower  has  undergone  considerable  changes,  as 
lightning  destroyed  its  wooden  spire  in  1671  "to  the  great 
astonishment  and  terrification  of  all  the  beholders."  Its 
large  pointed  windows  evidently  belong  to  the  fifteenth 
century.  This  tower  has  four  fine  bells,  three  of  which  were 
the  gift  of  Bishop  Maxwell  during  the  reign  of  James  V. 
The  great  bell,  three  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter  (less  half  an 
inch)  and  two  and  three-quarter  feet  high,  shows  on  a  shield 
this  Bishop's  coat  of  arms  and  the  following  inscription  : 
"  Made  by  Master  Robert  Maxwell,  Bishop  of  Orkney,  the 
year  of  God  MDXXVIII.  (1528),  the  year  of  the  reign  of 


KIRKWALL 


133 


King  James  V.  Robert  Borthwik  made  me  in  the  Castel  of 
Edinbrugh."  Like  too  many  of  our  modern  bells,  it 
evidently  required  recasting,  for  on  a  medallion  is  added  in 
seven  lines  :  "  Taken  et  brought  againe  heir  by  Alexander 
Geddus  Marchant  in  Kirkwall  and  recasten  at  Amsterdam 
Jully  1682  years  by  Claudius  Fremy  city  bell  caster.  It 
weighs  1450  P." 

The  second  bell,  three  feet  one  inch  in  diameter  and  two 
feet  five  inches  high,  bears  in  black  letter  inscription  the 
tale  of  its  being  made  by  the  same  caster  in  the  Castle  of 
Edinburgh,  and  on  it  also  is  "  Sanctus  Magnus"  with 
"IHS"  and  the  arms  of  Scotland  and  the  donor.  The 
third  bell,  two  feet  nine  inches  across  by  two  feet  five 
inches  high,  bears  the  same  inscription  and  arms  as  afore- 
said ;  and  the  fourth  bell,  a  smaller  one,  is  unhung.  Kirk- 
wall may  justly  be  proud  of  her  bells,  "  whose  booming 
could  be  heard  over  the  noise  of  stormy  Pentland,"  for  no 
church  on  the  mainland  possesses  such  distinction.  From 
other  records  we  learn  that  this  "Robert  Borthwik"  was 
master-gunner  during  the  reign  of  James  IV.  This  King 
included  Saint  Magnus  in  his  list  of  churches,  for  he  gave  ten 
pounds  Scots  and  victuals  to  thirteen  vicars  to  sing  matins 
and  masses  for  the  soul  of  his  murdered  father,  James  III., 
who  was  the  first  Scottish  King  of  the  Orkneys  or  Whale 
Islands.  From  his  reign  onwards  we  read  the  record  of 
Kirkwall  in  the  National  annals,  in  the  lives  of  Earls  and 
Bishops,  and  of  these  last  we  have  yet  to  learn. 

The  story  of  the  Bishops  of  Orkney  is  quite  as  necessary, 
and  also  quite  as  confusing,  as  that  of  the  Earls,  owing  to 
the  connection  with  Orkney  and  Caithness.  The  Saga 
names  William  the  Old  as  first  Bishop,  and  the  inscription 
found  in  his  grave  bears  this  out.  Servanus,  friend  and 
teacher  of  Kentigern,  is  often  called  first  Bishop  of  the 
Orkneys.  But  Adam  of  Bremen  names  Thorolf,  conse- 
crated by  Adalbert  Archbishop  of  Hamburg,  in  the  middle 
of  the  eleventh  century,  and  also  says  that  another  Adalbert 
succeeded  Thorolf.    He  might  be  the  Bishop  during  the 


134 


KIRKWALL 


life  of  Earl  Thorfinn,  who  built  Christ  Church.  Then  we 
recall  the  influence  of  Lanfranc  in  Earl  Paul's  time,  and 
successive  bishops  were  certainly  consecrated  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York.  Ralph,  who  figured  at  the  Battle  of  Northal- 
lerton in  1 138,  proves  that  he  and  William  both  claimed  the 
Bishopric  at  the  same  time,  but  Ralph's  must  have  been 
an  empty  title.  It  was  evidently  a  struggle  between  the 
Primates  of  Norway  and  England. 

Following  a  second  William,  we  have  Bjarni,  a  famous 
poet  to  whom  is  ascribed  The  Lay  of  the  Jomsbiirg  Vikings. 
He  must  have  been  interesting  as  well  as  rich  in  talents, 
lands,  and  money.  He  built  a  fine  castle  on  the  Island  of 
Weir,  and  lives  in  tradition  under  the  name  of  "  Cobbie 
Row"  (the  giant  or  goblin).  In  the  Chartulary  of  Mun- 
kalif  Monastery,  near  Bergen,  we  read  that  all  his  lands 
in  Norway,  known  as  Holand,  he  gives  "for  the  souls  of 
his  father,  mother,  brother,  relations,  and  friends."  He 
seems,  like  Earl  Hakon,  to  have  believed  in  the  super- 
natural as  well  as  in  the  sacred.  Peter,  the  sixth  Bishop, 
granted  a  forty  days'  indulgence  in  return  for  contributions 
offered  for  the  rebuilding  of  St.  Swithin's  Cathedral, 
Stavanger,  destroyed  by  fire.  William  III.  was  evidently 
a  fast  and  furious  prelate  who  preferred  hunting  and 
feasting  and  "  boisterous  pastime"  to  seeking  out  "heretics" 
and  those  who  practised  idolatry  and  witchcraft.  He 
dared  to  imprison  the  Canon  sent  to  collect  Peter's  pence  ; 
he  refused  to  allow  a  rich  woman's  corpse  to  be  carried  to 
Drontheim  ;  and  he  pocketed  some  special  revenues  for 
fifteen  years.  A  pestilent  priest  indeed  !  He  was  sus- 
pended, had  to  mortgage  his  dues  to  the  Archbishop,  &c. 
But  most  interesting  of  all  for  us  is  the  record  of  Sunnive- 
miel,  a  tribute  paid  by  the  Shetlanders  to  the  shrine  of  St. 
Sunniva  at  Bergen. 

Thomas  de  Tulloch,  the  fourteenth  Bishop,  pledged  him- 
self in  1420,  at  the  Church  of  Vestenskov,  in  Laland,  that  he 
would  hold  the  Crown  lands  of  Orkney  committed  to  his 
care  for  Eirik  and  his  successors,  promising  "to  give  law 


KIRKWALL 


135 


and  justice  to  the  people  of  Orkney,  according  to  the  Norsk 
law-book  and  the  ancient  usages."  In  1422,  he  received 
the  palace  and  pertinents  of  Kirkwall  "  as  a  fief  from  King 
Eric."  Then  came  the  great  change  in  1472,  when  a  Bull 
of  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  placed  the  See  of  Orkney  under  the  care 
of  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews.  The  islands  had  become 
the  dowry  of  Queen  Margaret  in  1469. 

For  twenty-six  years  Scotland  had  not  paid  her  arrears  of 
tribute,  and  by  this  marriage  treaty  Christian  I.  gave  his 
daughter  a  dowry  of  60,000  florins,  10,000  to  be  paid  down 
on  her  departure,  and  the  Orkneys  pledged  for  the  balance 
of  50,000  florins.  The  exchequer  was  empty  alas  !  and  we 
have  echo  in — 

"  You  Scottsmen  spend  a'  our  gude  red  gowd 
And  a'  our  queenis'  fee." 

Only  2,000  florins  were  forthcoming,  and  so  the  Shetlands 
were  next  pledged.  In  return  Queen  Margaret  received 
certain  jointure  lands,  the  Castle  of  Doune,  the  Palace  of 
Linlithgow,  and  her  terce  of  the  royal  possessions,  if  left  a 
widow.  So  the  Orkneys  and  Shetlands  then  represented  a 
money  value  of  58,000  florins,  which,  at  100  pence  each, 
made  a  sum  then  equal  to  .£24,000  of  our  money. 

As  we  come  nearer  to  the  Reformation  we  know  of 
Bishop  Maxwell's  gift  of  stalls,  removed  in  1671,  and  of 
bells;  of  Bishop  Reid's  many  improvements  and  restorations. 
Buchanan  tells  us  that  the  Orcadians  put  each  new  Bishop 
to  a  test — abolished,  however,  in  1585.  He  must  drain  to  the 
bottom  an  ancient  goblet  filled  with  wine,  long  believed  to 
have  belonged  to  St.  Magnus,  pledging  a  plentiful  harvest 
as  he  did  so.  Bishop  Malvoisin  should  have  been  appointed 
to  this  See.  One  wonders  what  has  become  of  this  goblet, 
and  feels  glad  also  that  the  Beaker  of  Glamis  still  exists  for 
sight  and  touch  as  precious  relic  of  ancient  days  and  quaint 
customs  in  Scotland  ;  just  as  in  quaint  Rothenburg,  Burgo- 
master Nusch's  cup  still  excites  admiration. 

The  alms  dishes  of  very  fine  Dutch  workmanship  of  the 


136 


KIRKWALL. 


seventeenth  century  are  still  in  existence,  precious  treasures 
in  genuine  brass,  two  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter.  The  fine 
woodwork,  notably  a  canopy  over  the  Bishop's  throne,  has 
disappeared. 

The  Norse  Earls  who  had  ruled  for  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years  became  extinct  in  1231,  and  Alexander  II.  granted 
the  Earldom  of  Caithness  to  the  House  of  Angus.  Then,  in 
1331,  we  find  that  Malise,  Earl  of  Stratherne  (connected  with 
Dunblane),  succeeded  in  right  of  his  wife  ;  and  again  in 
1379,  "the  lordly  line  of  high  St.  Clair"  came  into  posses- 
sion. In  1471,  James  III.  gave  "  William,  Earl  of  Orkney, 
the  castle  and  lands  of  Ravenscraig  in  Fife,  in  exchange  for 
all  his  rights  to  the  Earldom  of  Orkney  "  ;  and  an  Act  of 
Parliament  was  passed  on  the  20th  of  February,  annexing 
to  the  Scottish  Crown  "  The  Erledome  of  Orkney  and 
Lordship  of  Schetland  nocht  to  be  gevin  away  in  time  to 
cum  to  na  persain  or  persainis,  excep  alenarily  to  ane  of  the 
king's  sonnis  of  lauchful  bed." 

In  i486,  Kirkwall  was  made  a  royal  burgh  by  the  King, 
and  the  lands  of  St.  Ola  were  partly  vested  in  the  magistrates 
and  burgesses  for  the  maintenance  of  St.  Magnus  Church. 
In  1536,  James  V.  lived  in  the  Bishop's  Palace,  as  the  guest 
of  Bishop  Maxwell,  while  on  a  tour  through  his  kingdom. 
The  statue  now  seen  in  its  tower  is  said  to  be  that  of  Bishop 
Reid  who,  in  1540,  built  additions  to  the  original  palace  in 
which  King  Haco  died. 

The  Earl's  Palace  was  built  about  1600  by  the  notorious 
Earl  Patrick,  "  Scourge  of  Orkney  and  Shetland."  He  and 
his  son  took  possession  of  and  fortified  the  Cathedral  and 
"  went  about  to  demolish  and  throw  it  down."  His  sacrilege 
was  fortunately  prevented  by  Bishop  Law  and  the  arrival  of 
royal  troops,  but  the  new  ceiling  at  the  west  end  proves 
part  of  his  depredations.  A  Stewart,  too,  as  was  the  Wolf  of 
Badenoch  !  We  might  well  say  of  them,  "  Abbey  Builders, 
Cathedral  Destroyers  I "  In  1616,  he  and  his  worthy  son  met 
death  on  the  scaffold  in  Edinburgh,  and  he  lives  in  memory 
in  Orkney  as  the  "  Wicked  Earl."  His  palace  had  a  fine 
banqueting  hall  with  peculiar  horizontal-arched  fireplace  ; 


KIRKWALL 


137 


and  in  the  Pirate,  Sir  Walter  Scott  makes  Bunce  and  Cleve- 
land meet  in  this  room,  and  the  latter  also  pace  the  Cathe- 
dral soliloquising  on  its  story,  &c. 

When  the  expedition,  under  the  Marquis  of  Montrose  for 
Charles  II.,  started  from  the  Orkneys,  Cromwell  retaliated, 
and  his  soldiers  built  Cromwell's  Fort  from  the  ruins  of  the 
palace.  But  the  Cathedral  suffered  nothing  ;  sufficient  is  laid 
to  Cromwell's  charge  throughout  England  without  adding 
Kirkwall  to  his  black  list. 

In  1701,  the  Town  Guard  occupied  it  as  a  public  place, 
"  shooting  guns,  drinking,  fiddling,  piping,  swearing,  and 
cursing  night  and  day,"  and  thereby  made  it  unfit  for  public 
worship. 

The  Government,  regarding  it  as  Crown  property,  took 
possession  in  1848,  and  spent  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
on  repairs.  Then  the  magistrates  and  town  authorities 
proved  their  right  of  possession  from  the  charter  of  James 
III.,  and  so  they  now  administer  its  affairs. 

The  tourist  who  commands  time  will  find  great  reward 
in  a  visit  to  Kirkwall  and  the  Orkneys,  beloved  of  the 
historian,  the  antiquarian,  the  ecclesiologist,  and  their  fol- 
lowing of  humble  students.  After  a  period  approaching 
four  centuries  and  a  half,  he  will  find  the  true  Orcadian — in 
appearance,  nomenclature,  custom,  and  peculiar  phrase  of 
speech — of  Norway  rather  than  of  Scotland.  In  the  mar- 
vellous uniformity  of  style  and  design,  the  architect  finds 
parallel  for  St.  Magnus  Church  only  in  the  Nave  of  West- 
minster— the  Valhalla  of  our  United  lands  and  kingdoms — 
the  treasure  house  of  the  traditions  of  Picts,  Celts,  North- 
men, Saxons,  Normans,  Scots,  and  English. 

As  we  gaze  upon  this  noble  church,  built  for  a  soldier 
by  a  soldier  as  proof  of  his  steadfast  faith  in  the  God  of 
all  battles,  and  as  we  ponder  over  the  tale  of  blood  and 
strife  with  which  its  history  is  interwoven,  we  may  fittingly 
recall  the  lines — 

"  It  was  both  impious  and  unnatural 
That  such  humanity  and  bloody  strife 
Should  reign  among  professors  of  one  faith." 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


1074  a.d.  culdees. 

1124  a.d.  Austin  Canons. 

"  And  yet  these  grim  old  walls  are  not  a  dilettantism  and  dubiety  ; 
they  are  an  earnest  fact.  It  was  a  most  real  and  serious  purpose  they 
were  built  for  !  Yes,  another  world  it  was,  when  these  black  ruins,  white 
with  their  new  mortar  and  fresh  chiselling,  first  saw  the  sun  as  walls 
long  ago.  Gauge  not,  with  that  dilettante  compasses,  with  that  placid 
dilettante  simper,  the  Heavens— Watch-tower  of  our  Fathers,  the  fallen 
God's- Houses,  the  Golgotha  of  true  Souls  departed  !  .  .  .  Another 
world  truly  :  and  this  present  poor  distressed  world  might  get  some 
profit  by  looking  wisely  into  it,  instead  of  foolishly." 

THOMAS  CARLYLE  has  told  us  that  one  of  our 
duties  should  be  a  deliberate  study  amidst  the  ruins 
of  Iona  ;  and  possibly,  even  most  probably,  this 
Abbey  of  Dunfermline  led  him  to  ponder  over 
Monasticism,  its  aims  and  ideals,  its  lessons  and  failures  as 
told  so  trenchantly  by  him,  in  later  life,  in  his  essays  on 
Past  and  Present.  For  we  recall  that  the  great  thinker 
lived  part  of  his  life  as  a  schoolmaster  in  "the  lang 
toun  "  of  Kirkcaldy,  not  far  off. 

In  Scotland  we  have  a  saying,  "All  the  world  and  a  bit 
of  Fife,"  and  one  of  its  recent  native  writers  asserts  that 
"  Fife  contains  the  concentrated  essence  of  Scottish  history 
and  character."  Granting  this,  we  may  also  add  that  of  its 
churches,  now  standing  or  in  ruins,  the  Abbey  of  "the 
auld  gray  town  "  of  Dunfermline  excels  others  in  historic 
interest. 

138 


139 


We  somehow  never  forget  the  importance  of  the  Revo- 
lution in  England,  when  William  the  Conqueror  gained 
ascendency  over  the  Saxons,  but  we  seldom  or  but  rarely 
realise  that,  with  Malcolm  Caenmore's  accession  in  Northern 
Britain,  a  transformation  equally  great  in  effect  took  place. 
The  Pict  and  the  Celt  became  transfused,  and  henceforth 
served  in  the  united  lands  they  heretofore  ruled  ;  there  were 
not  only  new  lords  and  new  laws,  but  a  new  speech  and 
almost  a  new  religion.  When  Malcolm,  seated  on  the 
Lia  Fail  or  Stone  of  Destiny  at  Scone,  was  greeted  and 
acclaimed  in  the  Gaelic  tongue  as  "  King  of  Alban,"  the 
power  was  even  then  departing  from  the  ancient  people. 
Henceforth  fugitive  Saxons,  adventurous  Norman  knights 
and  their  followers,  men  from  Flanders  and  Brabant, 
Vikings  from  Denmark  and  Norway,  all  settled  down  to  add 
their  quota  to  the  population,  to  be  distinguished  in  the 
near  future  as  Lowland  Scots.  As  in  Wales,  so  too  here, 
the  plough  drove  back  to  the  confines  of  mountain,  moor, 
and  loch  those  ancient  clansmen  whom  we  now  name 
as  Highlanders. 

The  Nation's  Star  arose  in  a  new  and  ascendant  East. 
Malcolm,  though  ever  the  fierce  rugged  warrior,  had  none 
the  less  learned  in  his  exile  how  great  are  the  blessings  of 
peace  ;  so  commerce  was  born  in  the  land.  The  East  coast, 
with  its  rivers  and  firths  (Norwegian  fiord),  offered  natural 
facilities  and  therefore  invited  intercourse  with  the  more 
settled  and  prosperous  peoples  of  the  Continent.  The 
fierce  zeal  of  the  plundering  Vikings  found  new  channels, 
and  they  became  eager  carriers  of  a  system  of  exchange 
and  barter,  the  primitive  beginning  of  a  great  commerce 
thereafter  ;  and  agriculture,  in  which  Scotland  still  leads  the 
van,  assumed  an  ever  growing  importance. 

So  Malcolm  built  for  himself,  1057-68,  a  Castle  or 
Tower,  of  which  a  few  crumbling  stones  stand  at  Dunferm- 
line in  the  heart  of  Fothrif,  a  district  of  South  Pictland  and 
yet  easily  accessible  by  sea  and  land.  Soon  after,  Dun- 
fermline became  the  royal  capital. 


140 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


Every  schoolboy  knows  the  story  of  the  expulsion  of  the 
Saxon  royal  family  from  England  after  the  Conqueror's 
arrival  in  1066,  and  of  that  storm  which  tossed  their  vessel 
in  our  terrible  North  Sea — whose  cruelty  still  endures — 
until  their  hopes  of  ever  reaching  Hungary,  for  which 
country  they  were  bound,  grew  fainter  and  fainter.  But 
the  Scot  water  (Firth  of  Forth)  proved  a  safe  anchorage  for 
them,  when  within  four  miles  of  Dunfermline.  Whenever 
we  cross  between  North  and  South  Queensferry,  or  pass  by 
St.  Margaret's  Hope  and  Queen  Margaret's  Stone,  we  witness 
the  various  points  of  interest  in  the  journey  of  these  storm- 
tossed  fugitives.  Grateful,  no  doubt,  for  his  own  asylum  in 
Northumbria,  Malcolm  entertained  his  Saxon  guests  most 
hospitably  ;  and  in  1070,  married  the  Princess  Margaret  (as 
his  second  wife).  The  name  of  Margaret,  pure-minded  wife, 
mother,  queen,  and  finally  patron  Saint  of  the  country,  must 
ever  remain  closely  associated  with  Scotland's  churches,  and 
so  Dunfermline  takes  precedence  over  all. 

By  a  strange  irony  of  fate,  Lady  Macbeth  was  succeeded 
by  this  saintly  woman,  whom  all  hearts  revere  even  as  they 
execrate  her  predecessor.  But  when,  in  later  records  of 
Margaret's  church,  we  read  of  the  gifts  of  Kinross  to  the 
Monks,  let  us  also  recall  that  Shakespere's  Lady  Macbeth 
is  not  quite  true  to  life.  One  of  the  few  authentic  memorials 
of  those  early  days  is  the  gift  of  Lochleven  in  Kinross  to  the 
Columbites  by  Macbeth,  and  his  Lady — under  the  name  of 
the  Lady  Gruocli — joined  with  him  in  the  grant — Macbeth 
and  Gruoch  "  granting  the  lands  of  Kyrkness  to  the  Culdees 
of  Lochleven  from  motives  of  piety  and  for  the  benefit  of 
their  prayers."  Macbeth  also  granted  "The  land  of  Bolgyne 
to  the  same  Culdees  with  the  utmost  veneration  and  devo- 
tion." In  1050,  he  gave  silver  to  the  poor  in  Rome  in 
expiation  for  Duncan's  murder. 

After  the  royal  wedding,  Malcolm,  by  request  of  his  pious 
Queen,  founded  a  church  upon  the  site  of  their  nuptials, 
and  afterwards  appointed  it  as  a  place  of  interment  instead 
of  Iona  the  "  Blessed  Isle  "  so  far  away.    Of  Iona  we  may 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY  141 

now  write  Ichabod,  and  as  Dunfermline  supplanted  it, 
so  too  in  succession  was  it  drifted  into  shadowland  by 
Holyrood,  and  both  again  by  Westminster.  A  trinity  of 
Ichabods  for  Scotland  ! 

In  1075,  so  much  of  this  church  was  finished  that  it  was 
dedicated  to  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  partially  opened  for 
worship.  Thirteen  monks  of  the  Family  of  Iona  were 
brought  thence  to  officiate,  but  here  for  the  first  time  we 
find  no  name  or  shrine  of  Celtic  Saint.  These  monks  were 
but  coming  into  closer  contact  with  a  critical  patroness,  for 
the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Celtic  Church  and  Culdee 
monasteries  began  when  Margaret  brought  English  Canons 
from  Durham  to  instruct  them  better  in  their  former  simple 
faith  and  ritual. 

Turgot  of  Durham  was  her  chaplain  and  confessor, 
Lanfranc  was  her  chosen  counsellor  and  spiritual  father, 
and  her  children  followed  zealously  in  her  footsteps. 
Though  sons  and  daughters  of  a  Celtic  father  and  Saxon 
mother,  it  has  been  rather  aptly  said  of  them  that  "  they 
were  Normans  at  heart."  Queen  Margaret's  great  aim  was 
to  establish  the  ritual  of  St.  Augustine  in  place  of  St. 
Columba's  simpler  and  less  imposing  form  of  worship 
and  service ;  and  the  struggle  between  Celtic  and  Latin 
Churches  began  when  thirteen  Benedictine  Monks  (Austin 
Canons  as  they  came  to  be  known)  arrived  and  claimed 
"  Canterbury  to  be  the  mother  of  Dunfermline." 

In  the  story  of  Margaret  and  her  family  of  six  sons  and 
two  daughters,  we  note  that  not  one  bore  a  Celtic  name. 
Fergus,  Kenneth,  and  Duncan  disappeared  as  kingly  names, 
whilst  only  one  more  Malcolm  appears  in  regal  lists.  Thus 
the  domestic  policy  of  the  palace  pointed  the  way  to 
the  Court's  policy  in  the  nation's  councils  ;  and  in  the  story 
of  Margaret  and  her  sons,  Alexander,  Edgar,  David,  kings 
in  succession — somehow  we  forget  they  were  also  Malcolm's 
sons — we  find  that  "  The  Scottish  Church  was  not  so  much 
reformed  after  the  Southern  example  as  gradually  overgrown 
by  an  English  Church,  transplanted  to  the  Northern  hills, 


M2 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


with  its  clergy,  creeds,  rites,  and  institutions,  and  '  The  Use 
of  Sarum '  was  daily  heard."  English  Priests  became 
Scottish  Bishops,  and  the  religious  houses  were  filled  with 
English  monks.  Until  Margaret's  accession  to  power,  the 
religious  system  of  Scotland  had,  broadly  speaking,  been 
"  Monastic,"  for  the  clergy  of  the  Family  of  Iona  lived  in 
humble  "  Colleges,"  but  from  King  David's  time  onward 
it  became  parochial. 

Having  seen  how  fundamentally  English  in  style  the 
ritual  and  order  of  the  Scottish  Church  had  become  at 
this  time,  we  can  easily  account  for  the  general  sameness 
of  ecclesiastical  architecture  on  both  sides  of  the  Tweed 
during  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  Cathedral, 
Abbey,  Monastery,  Convent,  Hospital,  Church,  and  Chapel, 
all  alike  are  to  a  great  extent  miniature  copies  of  Southern 
buildings. 

Queen  Margaret's  life-story  belongs  elsewhere,  but  there 
is  one  incident  of  her  Court  life  that  it  is  pleasant  for  us  to 
associate  with  Dunfermline,  a  custom  still  so  rigorously  prac- 
tised in  every  Scottish  household  that  he  who  would  omit 
its  observance  is  judged  as  lacking  in  the  reverences  of  life. 
The  saying  of  Grace  before  meals  was  so  emphasised  by 
this  Queen  that  it  became  custom  for  all,  instead  of  for  the 
pious  and  reverent  only,  and  Grace  after  meals  was  also 
introduced.  To  encourage  this  custom  she  offered  a  drink 
of  rich  wine,  from  her  own  beautifully  carved  ivory  and 
silver  cup,  to  each  baron  who  would  wait  for  the  Blessing 
of  Thanks.  When  her  daughter  Maud,  married  to  Henry 
I.,  the  Norman  Beauclerc,  introduced  the  same  custom  at 
the  English  Court,  the  nobles  gladly  paid  their  tribute 
of  respect  to  "good  Queen  Maud's"  wishes,  and  soon  we 
find  the  chronicler's  line,  "  Mead  in  their  cans  and  wine  in 
the  Grace  cup,"  and  reading  it  in  Norman  record,  one's 
thoughts  are  carried  back  to  Dunfermline.  • 

Coming  to  the  story  of  the  Church,  there  is  very  little 
reason  to  believe  that  any  part  of  the  Abbey,  as  now  seen, 
was  built  by  King  Malcolm.    The  Celts  never  in  any  way 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


'43 


excelled  in  architecture,  so  we  cannot  presume  that  Scotland 
was  ahead  of  England  in  her  Norman  buildings.  As  Cosmo 
Innes  says  :  "The  original  Church  of  Canmore,  perhaps  not 
of  stone,  must  have  been  replaced  by  a  new  edifice  when  it 
was  dedicated  in  the  reign  of  David  I."  This  original  church 
may  have  stood  where  the  choir  was  afterwards  built.  Then 
David  I.  added  the  Norman  nave  which  we  now  see.  In 
1 1 24,  this  King  raised  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  to 
the  dignity  of  an  Abbey,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  his 
predecessor,  Alexander  I.,  all  but  finished  the  monastery 
buildings  occupied  by  the  thirteen  monks  King  David 
brought  from  Canterbury,  or  as  Wyntoun  says — 

"  Of  Canterbury  in  Dunfermlyne 
Monks  he  browcht  and  put  thame  Syn 
And  dowt  thame  rycht  rychely 
With  great  Possessyounys  and  mony." 

It  was  this  monastery,  "  the  finest  in  Scotland,"  of  which 
Matthew  Paris  wrote  :  "  Three  distinguished  sovereigns 
with  their  retinues  might  be  accommodated  with  lodgings 
at  the  same  time  without  inconvenience  to  one  another." 

No  one  need  presume  to  doubt  the  purity  of  King  David's 
motives  or  the  saintliness  of  his  life,  but  shortly  before  the 
Reformation  came  it  is  interesting  to  find  that  Bellenden, 
Archdeacon  of  that  Latin  Church  to  which  David  gave  so 
freely,  wrote  :  "  If  King  David  had  considered  the  manners 
and  nourishing  of  devout  religion,  he  had  neither  built  the 
churches  with  such  magnificence  nor  endowed  them  with 
such  riches.  For  the  superfluities  of  churches  (now  as  they 
are  used)  are  not  only  occasion  to  evil  prelates  to  rage  in 
most  insolent  and  corrupt  life,  but  one  sicker  net  to  draw 
all  manner  of  gold  and  silver  out  of  this  realm  to  Rome  by 
their  continual  promotion."  In  that  very  lack  of  "super- 
fluities" the  Protestant  Church  in  Scotland  has  founded 
her  strength  ;  the  mind  and  soul,  rather  than  the  eye  and 
ear,  have  been  her  chiefest  objects  of  solicitude. 

The  choir,  aisles,  transept,  and  presbytery  were  erected 


144 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


between  1216  and  1226,  and  we  read  of  appeals  and  pro- 
tests to  Rome  over  the  expenses  thereof.  Then,  in  1249, 
there  came  the  message  that  this  new  church  need  not  be 
consecrated  as  the  nave  had  been  so — -again  a  saving  of 
expenditure.  Robert  the  Abbot  had  a  shrewd  and  active 
mind.  He  was  Chancellor  of  the  kingdom,  the  Abbey- 
finances  were  low,  and  he  knew  to  the  full  the  commercial 
value  of  a  saint's  shrine  as  a  means  of  income.  He  urged 
Queen  Margaret's  canonisation  ;  wonderful  stories  of 
miracles  wrought  and  of  bright  lights  seen  at  her  grave 
were  freely  circulated  ;  Pope  Honorius  made  diligent 
inquiry- and  was  satisfied,  and  so  our  pious  Christian  and 
model  queen  became  a  partner  with  St.  Andrew  in  the 
patronage  of  her  adopted  land.  In  1250,  as  Cosmo  Innes 
says,  "to  give  solemnity  to  the  opening  of  the  New  Church," 
her  body  was  transferred  from  the  old  church  to  the  new 
Lady  Chapel,  built  to  receive  her  shrine,  in  presence  of 
all  the  chief  men  in  the  kingdom.  "A  free  indulgence  of 
forty  days  to  all  the  faithful  who  visit  the  shrine  of  St. 
Margaret "  is  recorded  in  the  Register  of  the  Abbey.  It 
was  the  year  of  the  coronation  of  Alexander  III.,  and 
Abbot  Robert  had  succeeded  so  well  that  the  mitre  was 
given  to  his  Abbey  which  henceforth  ranked  first  in 
order  of  precedence  in  Scotland,  as  formally  confirmed  by 
decree  in  1442.  My  Lord  Abbot,  sure  of  his  ground  now, 
proceeded  to  summon  the  Culdees,  who  still  differed  in  their 
form  of  worship,  that  their  claims  might  be  settled  "accord- 
ing to  justice."  He  being  actually  both  judge  and  jury, 
sentence  of  expulsion  was  pronounced,  and  with  the  date  of 
the  opening  of  Margaret's  shrine,  the  Culdees,  as  a  distinct 
body  of  worshippers,  ceased  to  exist. 

Connected  with  the  translation  of  the  Queen's  body  we 
have  fresh  stories  of  miracles.  When  the  bearers  were 
carrying  it,  all  went  well  until  King  Malcolm's  tomb  was 
reached  ;  they  could  go  no  further,  in  vain  did  they  strive, 
the  faithful  wife  would  not  leave  her  husband  behind  even 
if  celibacy  were  demanded  of  thirteenth  century  saints.  So 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


MS 


Malcolm's  body  was  also  raised  and  the  royal  burden  again 
became  light,  and  both  were  laid  at  rest  together.  Then  in 
1263,  at  the  Battle  of  Largs,  disastrous  to  Norway  and  King 
Haco,  the  wraiths  of  Margaret  and  her  royal  descendants 
left  their  resting  place  to  cheer  and  encourage  the  Scots  to 
victory.  (The  ballad  of  "  Hardyknut,"  written  by  a  native 
of  Fife,  tells  the  story  of  this  battle.)  As  Westminster  in- 
creased in  riches  and  power  round  the  shrine  of  Edward 
the  Confessor,  so  did  Scotland's  Valhalla  likewise  gather 
wealth  round  that  of  Saxon  Margaret,  his  niece.  Wallace 
prayed  before  it — for  a  monk  of  Dunfermline  was  his 
chaplain — Bruce  spent  many  months  here  in  daily  devo- 
tion before  his  death;  and  we  have  perfectly  authentic 
accounts  of  the  Queen's  head  with  wealth  of  golden  hair 
being  carried  away  to  Douai,  and  of  Philip  of  Spain's 
strenuous  efforts  to  obtain  the  bodies  of  Malcolm  and 
Margaret  as  additions  to  his  relics  of  the  saints  in  the 
Escurial.  In  our  own  day,  effort  has  been  made  to  find 
the  bodies  or  the  head,  but  in  vain.  She  deserved  better  of 
her  country,  but  had  her  body  been  left  in  peace  and  not 
made  object  of  prayer  and  profit,  then,  like  Robert  Bruce's 
now,  her  grave  would  be  honoured  ;  for  in  Scotland's  rude 
dark  ages  she  shone,  a  noble  light,  and  all  men  of  whatsoever 
creed  honour  her  memory. 

Between  1093  and  1 165  there  were  buried  in  the 
Abbey  : — 


Margaret   1093 

Edward  (heir  apparent)    1093 

Duncan  II.  (son  of  Ing-ibiorg  the  first  wife  of 

Malcolm)    1094 

Ethelred  (Abbot  of  Dunkeld)   1096  ? 

King  Edgar    1107 

Malcolm  Caenmore  (exhumed  at  Tynemouth)      ...  1115 

Alexander  1   1124 

David  1   1 154 

Malcolm  IV   1165 


When  the  new  church  was  consecrated   in   1250,  as 
11 


[46 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


aforesaid,  the  bodies  of  King  Malcolm  and  Queen  Margaret 
were  reinterred,  and  there  were  also  buried  within  its 
walls  : — 


Margaret,  Queen  of  Alexander  III  

...  1250 

David  and  Alexander  (her  sons)   

...  1280 

Alexander  III  .'  

...  1284 

Elizabeth  (first  wife  of  Robert  Bruce) 

...  1327 

King  Robert  the  Bruce  

...  1329 

Matilda  (his  daughter)  

•••  1356 

Christian  (his  sister)      ...  ...   

...  1366 

Annabella  (Queen  of  Robert  III.)   

...  1403 

Robert  (infant  son  of  James  VI.)   

...  1602 

Thus  Dunfermline  is  the  sanctuary  of  nineteen  royal 
graves  which  receive  more  prominent  notice  nowadays 
because  of  the  one  name  Bruce,  whose  loyal  friend 
Randolph  also  lies  here. 

For  many  of  the  visitors  to  the  Abbey  the  centre  of 
attraction  lies  at  the  tomb  of  Robert  the  Bruce.  The  great 
King  did  not  make  his  residence  here,  and  after  his  acces- 
sion was  but  at  rare  intervals  in  the  East,  but  he  observed 
the  traditions,  and  as  he  had  been  crowned  at  Scone,  so 
must  he  be  buried  in  Dunfermline,  as  was  also  Elizabeth 
his  queen.  So  he  granted  the  Church  of  Kinross  and  the 
Chapel  of  Orwell  to  the  monks  in  honour  of  his  royal 
ancestors'  tombs  and  in  anticipation  of  his  own.  During 
his  tedious  illness  from  leprosy,  he  devoted  himself  to  the 
future  provision  of  things  temporal  for  his  country,  and  as 
a  good  churchman,  set  also  his  spiritual  house  in  order. 
The  man  nowadays  who  provides  coffin  or  tomb  in 
anticipation  of  decease,  incurs  the  liability  of  being  legally 
pronounced  eccentric  and  erratic,  but  such  points  of  conduct 
are  after  all  but  vagaries  of  fashion.  As  death  drew  near, 
Bruce  made  preparation  for  his  final  rest  near  former 
royalties,  and  so  a  fine  tomb  was  ordered  from  Paris,  and 
in  all  probability  erected  here  while  he  still  lived.  It  was 
built  of  white  marble  heavily  gilded,  surrounded  by  an  iron 
railing,  and  its  canopy  was  of  "painted  Baltic  timber" — 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY  147 

such  style  of  tomb  as  that  of  the  Black  Prince  in  Canterbury 
Cathedral. 

The  King's  death  took  place  on  the  30th  of  May,  1329,  at 
his  hunting  palace  of  Cardross,  in  Dumbartonshire,  and  one 
week  later  he  was  buried  in  the  choir  of  the  Abbey.  The 
funeral  was  attended  by  "  the  grate  the  good  and  the  brave 
of  the  daie  and  the  weeping  of  the  multitudes  insyde  and 
outsyde  the  Kyrke  adid  solemnitie  to  the  rite."  In  the 
destruction  of  the  choir  at  the  Reformation  even  King 
Robert's  tomb  suffered  with  others,  and  for  a  period  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  the  actual  site  of  his  grave  was 
unknown.  When  Robert  Burns  visited  the  Abbey  in  1787, 
"  he  knelt  and  kissed  the  flagstones,  and  also  execrated  the 
worse  than  Gothic  neglect  of  the  first  of  Scottish  heroes." 

When  the  foundations  of  the  present  church  were  being 
dug  in  1818,  three  workmen  discovered  a  vault  in  which  lay 
a  large  body,  six  feet  long,  wrapped  in  thick  folds  of  sheet 
lead,  the  fragments  of  fine  linen  and  cloth  of  gold  betoken- 
ing it  a  royal  tomb.  When  examined,  the  body  was  found 
to  have  the  breastbone  sawn  asunder,  proving  it  to  be  that 
of  the  great  King  whose  request  that  his  heart  be  cut  out 
and  carried  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre  had  been  truly  obeyed. 
His  friend,  the  good  Sir  James  Douglas,  fulfilled  the  King's 
desire,  and  the  Cathcart  pillar  in  Paisley  Abbey  tells  the 
close  of  the  story,  an  ever  popular  tale  because  it  appeals  to 
our  hearts  in  proof  of  the  hero's  simple  faith  and  the  friend's 
perfect  obedience  and  devotion.  The  skeleton  was  care- 
fully re-wrapped  in  its  original  winding-sheet  and  placed  in 
a  lead  coffin  which  was  then  filled  with  melted  pitch  to 
preserve  the  bones  from  further  decay.  On  the  lid  of  the 
coffin  was  cast  in  raised  letters — 

King  Robert  Bruce 
1329 
1819 


This  coffin  was  again  placed  in  one  of  wood,  the  vault 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


was  filled  up,  and  within  it  were  placed  Barbour's  Life  of 
Bruce,  Lord  Haile's  Annals  of  Scotland,  Kerr's  History  of 
King  Robert's  Reign,  Fernie's  History  of  Dunfermline,  and 
the  Edinburgh  Almanac  for  1819,  together  with  copies 
of  the  various  Edinburgh  newspapers  of  the  day,  and 
divers  coins  of  varying  dates  of  the  reign  of  George  III.; 
and  with  flat  stones  it  was  filled  up  to  the  level  of 
the  church  floor.  Finally,  in  1889,  a  public  subscrip- 
tion provided  for  his  grave  a  very  beautiful  brass, 
executed  in  the  style  of  those  in  Westminster  Abbey  co- 
relative  with  Bruce's  period.  On  this  is  cut  the  life-size 
figure  of  the  King  in  royal  robes  over  a  suit  of  chain  mail. 
His  great  two-handed  sword  is  by  his  side,  and  on  his 
shield,  the  Scottish  lion  rampant.  A  ribbon  border  bears 
a  scroll  inscription  in  Latin,  "The  grave  of  Robert  the 
Bruce,  King  of  Scots,  happily  discovered  among  the  ruins, 
1818,  has  been  at  length  marked  by  this  brass,  in  the  560th 
year  after  his  death."  The  brass  is  imbedded  in  a  slab  of 
very  rich  red-coloured  porphyry,  taken  from  an  Egyptian 
sarcophagus  by  his  descendant,  the  Earl  of  Elgin,  of  Elgin 
Marbles  fame.  Over  it  a  finely  carved  pulpit  protects  but 
does  not  in  any  way  obscure  the  slab.  Thus  every  Sabbath 
day  the  gospel  of  love  and  peace  and  good-will  is  preached 
over  the  bones  of  Robert  Bruce,  and  so  the  secular  in 
national  history  is  happily  blended  with  the  sacred  in 
national  aspiration. 

Fortunately  we  may  read  in  Ford  urn's  Chronicle  the 
inscription  on  the  original  tomb  : — "  Here  lies  the  In- 
vincible Robert,  blessed  King.  Let  him  who  reads  his 
exploits  repeat  how  many  wars  he  carried  on.  He  led  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Scots  to  Freedom  by  his  uprightness  ; 
now  let  him  live  in  the  Citadel  of  the  Heavens."  Thus 
"  patriotism  will  continue  to  honour  its  heroes  as  religion 
reveres  its  saints."  Bruce  and  his  descendants  here  reign 
supreme.  In  the  south  aisle,  the  family  of  the  Earls  of 
Elgin  have  many  beautiful  monuments  and  windows,  and 
a  fine  bust  of  the  Lady  Augusta  Bruce,  wife  of  Dean 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


149 


Stanley,  marks  her  youthful  connection  with  Dunfermline 
u  which  she  loved  so  well." 

Standing  outside,  we  can  see  that  the  handsome  square 
tower,  which  rises  above  the  hero's  grave,  has  an  open 
balustrade  round  its  summit  formed  of  the  words — 

"  KING  ROBERT  THE  BRUCE," 

in  letters  of  open  hewn  work  four  feet  in  length.  Royal 
crowns  and  pinnacles  surmount  its  corners.  This  inscrip- 
tion has,  rather  captiously,  been  criticised  as  "  in  bad  taste," 
but  after  all,  is  not  the  point  of  view  a  vital  factor  in  our 
judgment  ? 

The  new  Church,  built  in  1818,  contains  in  its  north 
transept  the  old  royal  gallery,  bearing  the  initials  of 
James  VI.  and  his  Queen,  Anne  of  Denmark — who  lived 
in  the  palace  until  Queen  Elizabeth's  death  called  them 
South — and  on  its  oak  shields  in  quaint  lettering  are  the 
names  of  kings,  queens,  and  princes  whose  bodies  have 
long  since  mingled  with  the  Abbey  dust.  Few,  if  any, 
of  the  finely  sculptured  stones  are  left.  Abbotsford  is 
decorated  with  much  of  the  fine  old  oak  of  the  Abbey ; 
even  the  pulpit  entire,  of  date  1634,  was  sent  thither.  One 
would  not  wittingly  grudge  aught  to  Sir  Walter,  the  zealous 
antiquarian  and  Protestant,  but  surely  the  old  pulpit  of 
Dunfermline  Abbey  stands  out  of  place  in  Abbotsford 
nowadays.  With  our  modern  desire  for  all  things  to  be 
done  reverently  and  in  order,  this  pulpit,  consecrated 
symbol  of  the  message  it  has  widely  preached  to  many 
generations,  should  stand  again  within  the  walls  which 
sheltered  its  hearers — the  quick  and  the  dead.  It  might 
fittingly  mark  the  spot  where  the  first  royal  tombs  were 
placed,  as  does  the  pulpit  of  the  new  church  mark  the 
Bruce's  grave. 

The  Abbey  is  a  truly  venerable  pile,  although  only  the 
Romanesque  nave  remains  of  that  first  Holy  Trinity 
Church.     Entering   by  the   north    porch,   we   note  its 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


beautifully  groined  roof  with  ten  sculptured  keystones 
and  many  quaint  devices.  The  old  oak  door,  nail  studded, 
still  has  its  "  thumb-sneck  "  latch  and  long  wooden  bar  shot 
into  the  wall,  such  bar  as,  at  the  scene  of  the  murder 
of  James  I.,  changed  Catherine  Douglas's  name  into  that 
of  Barlass.  The  cavities  in  its  walls  were  either  used  for 
holy  water  or  for  the  baptism  of  the  children  of  strangers 
and  pilgrims  who  might  not  enter  within  the  church. 

The  Nave,  166  feet  long  by  53  feet  wide  internally, 
reminds  one  of  Durham,  and  as  King  Malcolm  was 
present  at  the  founding  of  St.  Cuthbert's  Church  in  1093, 
the  similarity  is  natural  enough.  We  have  the  same 
massive  circular  pillars,  and  as  we  advance  eastward 
towards  the  steps  leading  into  the  new  church,  we  note 
the  same  form  of  carving  in  zig-zag  and  thwarted  lines  and 
the  arrow-head  markings,  and  presume  therefrom  that  the 
same  mason  may  have  designed  the  work  here.  These 
pillars,  too,  have  a  peculiar  way  of  changing  their  ap- 
pearance as  we  move.  Seen  from  one  point  they  look 
top-heavy,  the  base  more  slender  than  the  capital  ;  from  an 
opposite  point  of  view,  the  order  appears  reversed,  and  they 
seem  to  taper  towards  the  capitals.  This  magnificent  nave 
serves  but  as  porch  to  the  church  now  used  for  worship, 
and  as  we  stand  on  its  higher  elevation,  and  look  westward 
towards  the  great  window,  one  feels  glad  that  the  Scots  have 
at  last  been  aroused  to  the  necessity  of  restoring  and  treasur- 
ing their  ancient  cathedrals  and  abbeys. 

Retracing  our  steps  through  the  nave,  two  of  its  fine 
windows  of  stained  glass  specially  attract  us.  The  one 
in  the  south  aisle  must  have  precedence,  for  it  was  the 
first  stained-glass  window  placed  in  the  Abbey.  It  was 
presented  in  i860  by  Lady  Willoughby  D'Eresby,  of 
Drummond  Castle,  in  memory  of  her  ancestor  Queen 
Annabella  Drummond,  consort  of  Robert  III.  and  mother 
of  James  I.,  the  poet  king,  born  in  the  adjoining  palace. 
She  it  was  who  urged  her  husband  to  erect  a  fine  tomb,  and 
his  humble  answer  and  the  story  of  his  grave  is  embodied 
in  that  of  Paisley  Abbey. 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


The  magnificent  western  window  of  four  lights  is 
another  object-lesson  in  history,  as  we  see  before  us  in 
bold  clear  outline  of  form  and  lineament,  the  life-size 
figures  of  King  Malcolm  and  Queen  Margaret,  William 
Wallace  and  Robert  Bruce.  It  is  the  gift  of  the  well- 
known  Andrew  Carnegie,  a  native  of  the  town,  and  it  was 
designed  by  Sir  Xoel  Paton,  Her  Majesty's  Limner  for 
Scotland,  another  townsman  who,  with  his  brother  and 
sister,  is  well  known  in  the  galleries.  {Bruce  and  the 
Spider,  Brnce's  Tomb,  Queen  Margaret  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures, all  tell  of  the  Patons'  connection  with  Dunfermline, 
whilst  the  fine  picture  of  The  Ordination  of  the  Elders,  in  the 
National  Gallery  in  Edinburgh,  is  appropriately  placed  there 
as  of  national  interest.) 

Outside,  we  see  in  the  western  doorway  one  of  the  most 
perfect  early  Xorman  doorways  in  existence,  equalling  that 
of  Rochester.  It  is  twenty  feet  in  height  and  sixteen  feet  in 
breadth,  and  its  five  slender  columns  on  either  side  form 
support  for  receding  arches  in  dog-tooth  and  zig-zag  of 
different  styles,  surmounted  by  carved  heads,  supposed  to 
represent  the  Apostles.  The  quiet  dead  lie  in  hundreds 
around  us,  and  a  gleam  of  the  Forth  brings  back  anew 
those  days  of  Sir  Patrick  Spens,  the  "  Skeely  Skipper,"  sent 
"  o'er  the  faem  to  Norway"  by  the  king  who 

"  Sat  in  Dunfermline  toun 
Drinking  the  bluid-red  wine'*  ; 

From  the  Monks'Chronicles  of  the  Abbey  we  can  glean 
richly  of  our  own  earlier  Scottish  life.  This  Ancient 
Register  of  Dunfermline  is  preserved  in  the  Advocate's 
Library  in  Edinburgh.  It  throws  most  valuable  light  on 
the  ancient  tenures  and  forms  of  conveyancing  in  Scot- 
land, as  it  was  really  a  nucleus  around  which  all  deeds 
and  business  transactions  of  the  monastery  were  centred. 
Two  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  the  first  Earl  of  Haddington 
made  a  valuable  and  methodical  list  of  its  contents  as 
follows  : — Charters  relating  to  the  Kings,  David  to  Alexander 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


III.;  the  Bishops  of  St.  Andrews  and  of  Dunkeld ;  the 
Chapter  of  St.  Andrews;  the  Earls  of  Fife  and  of  Athol; 
Countesses  Ada  and  Ela  ;  Charters  of  Laymen  ;  Covenants 
and  Conventions  regarding  disputed  territories  and  Bulls 
of  Popes.  The  first  form  of  its  handwriting  may  be 
generally  ascribed  to  the  early  half  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, or  the  reign  of  Alexander  II.  It  deals  with  facts 
relative  to  the  Abbey  after  its  remodelling  by  David  I. 
The  second  style  of  writing  is  much  less  careful,  and  the 
rubricated  titles  and  ornamental  initial  letters  disappear. 
From  it  we  learn  many  interesting  facts  as  to  the  gifts 
and  privileges  of  the  Abbey.  The  iron  and  coal  pits  of  Fife 
are  the  great  source  of  her  modern  wealth  ;  King  David 
granted  one-tenth  of  all  his  gold  found  in  Fife  and  Fothrif 
to  the  monks  in  1144  ;  and  the  oldest  coal  charter  in  Scot- 
land was  granted  to  them  in  1291.  They  evidently  needed 
the  coal,  for  a  decree  is  issued  from  Lyons  permitting  them 
to  wear  caps  and  bonnets  during  the  service,  except  at 
special  reverences,  owing -to  the  "frigid  region."  These 
caps  were  made  of  leather,  and  in  the  excavations  for  the 
new  church,  in  1818,  pieces  of  the  same  were  found. 

An  organ  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  service  at 
this  time,  and  later,  Henryson  refers  to  the  "  orlege  bell  " 
or  clock — rare  even  in  the  fifteenth  century.  Haddington 
Church  had  to  supply  their  lights,  Dunkeld  Cathedral  was 
subject ;  and  St.  John  the  Baptist's  Church  in  Perth  was 
also  notable  in  their  widespread  list  of  dependent  churches. 
The  schools  at  Perth  and  Stirling  were,  under  the  fostering 
care  of  the  Abbey,  but  in  return,  Edward  III.  of  England 
ordered  the  monks  to  pay  their  share  of  the  expenditure  in 
fortifying  the  city  of  Perth.  Their  privileges  seem  to  have 
been  endless  ;  the  monks  might  come  and  go  free  across  the 
Scot  water,  and  excommunication  was  a  handy  weapon  to 
issue  against  a  contesting  claimant  to  shore  and  water 
rights  of  fisheries. 

Cardinal  Wolsey  is  credited  with  an  epicurean  taste  for 
whale's  tail.    Our  monks  of  Holy  Trinity  had  actually  a 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY' 


'53 


charter  from  Malcolm  IV.,  solemnly  signed  by  bishops, 
earls,  and  chamberlain,  giving  them  right  to  the  heads  of 
all  Crespeis — better  known  as  bottle-nose  whales — stranded  in 
the  Scot  water.  The  King,  however,  claimed  tribute  of  the 
tongue  (a  titbit  in  the  twelfth  century),  and  he  also  expected 
prayers  for  King  David's  salvation,  in  return.  William  the 
Lion  gave  them  bondmen  and  their  families  (Celts  by  their 
names),  and  when,  in  return,  these  serfs  assisted  at  the  King's 
buildings,  he  decreed  that  no  precedent  was  thereby  estab- 
lished. The  Sheriff  of  Fife  was  obliged  to  yield  tribute  of 
the  eighth  of  his  fines.  It  seemed  as  if  their  hands  were 
ever  open  and  their  perpetual  cry  was  "  Give  !  give  !  " 
But  there  was  sometimes  a  fly  in  their  ointment.  The 
Bishop  of  St.  Andrews  paid  them  an  official  visit,  and  as 
his  hosts  neglected  to  provide  him  with  sufficient  wine  for 
his  supper,  he  took  from  them  two  of  their  churches,  and 
then  the  abbot  and  monks  protested  that  the  bishop's 
servants  drank  the  wine.  It  seems  a  pretty  little  quarrel, 
the  more  so  because  the  bishop's  name  was  Malvoisin,  and 
"  Malmsey  and  Malvoisie  "  are  familiar  enough  on  ancient 
wine  lists  ;  and  also  because  two  of  their  cellarers  were 
promoted  to  be  abbots.  (The  cellarer  was  also  a  business 
manager,  and  there  is  a  hard  air  of  business  all  through  the 
Register  as  we  read  between  the  lines.) 

After  the  murder  of  James  I.  at  Perth  in  1436,  Dunferm- 
line and  other  cities  were  deemed  unsafe  as  royal  resi- 
dences, and  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh  became  centre  of 
Scottish  Court  life.  It  was  a  heavy  blow  for  the  monks  ; 
the  King's  ear  was  gone,  and  judgment  at  a  distance  is  less 
apt  to  be  partial.  James  II.  very  properly  called  on  all 
to  regard  "with  veneration"  the  church  where  his  royal 
ancestors  lay,  but  he  none  the  less  annexed  for  Crown 
revenue  some  of  the  lands  of  the  said  church.  Had  not 
his  royal  father  at  David's  grave  in  the  church  called  him 
"  Sair  Sainct  to  the  Crown  "  ! — for  James  was  poor,  and 
King  David's  excessive  devotion  had  made  these  monks 
richer  than  the  King.    These  descendants  of  David's  Bene- 


'54 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


dictines  from  Canterbury  had  waxed  mighty  and  arrogant ; 
an  Abbot  was  the  King's  son,  and  he,  with  great  pomp, 
presented  his  royal  father,  James  IV.,  with  sword  of  state 
and  consecrated  hat  from  Rome — and  with  that  father  fell 
on  Flodden  Field.  They  had  outlived  their  usefulness,  and 
had  become  a  jest  and  byword  for  "ribbald  loons"  instead 
of  an  ensample  to  the  people. 

So  the  end  came  ;  the  Monastery,  its  Frater  Hall,  of  which 
the  beautiful  Gothic  window  is  still  seen,  the  Choir,  Lady 
Chapel,  and  all  the  shrines  and  imageries  were  utterly  cast 
down,  and  from  this  Register  we  may  read  the  lessons  thereof. 
But  before  closing  its  pages  we  must  note,  under  the  year 
1437,  the  first  charter  written  in  Scots  tongue. 

The  palace  life  mingled  so  closely  with  that  of  the  Abbey, 
that  we  revise  history  in  the  pages  of  the  Register.  John 
Baliol  here  ratified  the  agreement  of  marriage  between  his 
son  Edward  and  the  niece  of  Philip  IV.  of  France  ;  Edward  I. 
spent  twenty-one  weeks  in  the  palace  on  his  journey  "to 
destroy  everything  of  antiquity  in  Scotland,  to  carry  off  its 
records  and  men  of  learning;"  and  in  the  church,  before  the 
high  altar,  he  demanded  and  received  the  homage  of  the 
Sheriff  of  Stirling  and  others. 

In  1303,  Wallace  and  his  mother  travelled,  on  foot  and 
disguised,  from  Dundee  to  Dunfermline,  and  tradition  says, 
hid  in  Queen  Margaret's  Cave,  meeting  his  friends  in  the 
forest.  Here  the  poor  weary  mother  died  and  was  buried, 
and  tradition  again  points  to  a  spot  in  the  churchyard  as 
her  grave,  marked  by  a  thorn  tree.  But  this  "  Gospel  thorn  " 
really  took  the  place  of  the  "  weeping  cross  "  cast  down  at 
the  Reformation.  Wherever  she  lies,  the  Abbot  and  monks 
must  have  given  her  the  last  rites  of  the  Church,  and  paid 
heavily  for  the  same  at  tyrant  Edward's  hands.  He  spent 
the  following  winter  here,  encouraged  the  Christmas  buffoon- 
eries of  the  Boy  Bishop,  gave  him  forty  shillings  in  fee,  and 
then,  after  a  ninety-seven  days'  residence  in  the  monastery, 
set  fire  to  its  "frater  hall,  dormitory,  infirmary,  lavatory, 
kitchen,  stables,  charterhouse,"  and  so  revenged  himself. 


D UNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


i55 


But  he  "spared  the  Church."  One  better  understands 
after  such  recital  how  bitterly  he  was  execrated  in  Scot- 
land, how  fervent  became  Scottish  devotion  to  Robert 
Bruce. 

James  IV.  and  his  Queen  spent  much  time  here,  also 
James  V.  and  Mary  of  Guise.  James  VI.  and  Queen  Ann 
(to  whom  he  deeded  the  Lordship  of  Dunfermline)  and  their 
children,  Elizabeth  (Queen' of  Bohemia  and  also  "Queen  of 
Hearts,"  from  whom  Queen  Victoria  is  directly  descended) 
and  Charles  I.  were  born  within  the  palace.  Alas  !  that  he 
should  be  the  last  King  recorded,  his  cruel  fate  ever  asso- 
ciated with  its  ruined  walls. 

When  Charles  II.  visited  the  town  in  1650,  the  document 
known  as  "The  Declaration  of  Dunfermline"  was  drawn 
up,  and  the  King  subscribed  "  to  adhere  to  both  Covenants," 
but  alas  !  a  king's  word  was  no  longer  his  bond.  Six  years 
before,  Mr.  Robert  Kay,  minister,  had  been  imprisoned  by 
Cromwell  for  praying  for  this  same  King  who  made  so  light 
of  his  sacred  oaths  and  promises. 

Great  men  as  well  as  royalties  have  lived  close  by  its 
precincts,  notably  Robert  Henryson,  poet,  schoolmaster, 
good  man,  who  pondered  deeply,  and  in  his  Abbey  Walk 
reveals  the  trend  of  a  devout  and  serious  mind  as  "  he  went 
up  and  down  in  ane  Abbey  fair  to  see,"  and  who  in  every 
trial  and  condition  of  life  reminds  us  of  "  Obey  and  thank 
thy  God  of  all." 

The  Rev.  David  Ferguson,  first  Protestant  Evangel  of  the 
Reformed  Service  in  1560,  and  compiler  of  a  valuable 
collection  of  Scottish  proverbs,  died  in  1598,  and  of  him 
Archbishop  Spottiswoode  wrote  thus  :  "  Ferguson  was  a 
good  preacher,  wise,  and  of  a  jocund  and  pleasant  disposi- 
tion which  made  him  well  regarded  both  in  Court  and 
Countrey."  He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  John  Davidson, 
reformed  monk — poet  too — who  in  Carmen  commemorates 
Ferguson's  virtues. 

The  year  1644  was  notable.  The  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant  was  bound  "  For  the  Kirke  at  Dunfermling  "  ; 


,S6 


DUXFERMLINE  ABBEY 


and  worshippers  at  the  evening  service  were  requested  to 
bring  their  own  candles. 

In  the  town  we  may  see  "the  Abbot's  House"  where  lived 
Robert  Pitcairn,  Commendator  in  1576,  over  whose  doorway 
is  an  "advice-stane"  of  significant  message — 

"Since  word  is  thrall,  and  thought  is  free, 
Keep  well  thy  tongue,  I  counsel  thee." 

In  the  eighteenth  century  lived  Ralph  Erskine,  for  twenty 
years  minister  then  founder  of  the  "Original  Secession 
Church,"  and  for  fifteen  years  its  pastor  here.  We  recall 
Whitfield's  visit  to  him,  and  recognise  to  the  full  the  nobility 
of  purpose  which  led  him  to  leave  his  Abbey  charge. 

There  are  other  books  of  note  in  the  Advocate's  Library 
in  Edinburgh  connected  with  our  Abbey.  St.  Jerome's 
Latin  Bible  in  MS.,  beautifully  written  and  illuminated, 
was  used  in  the  Abbey  from  1124  till  1560,  when  Dury 
the  last  Abbot  carried  it  to  France  with  other  treasures. 
There  it  eventually  came  into  the  possession  of  the  cele- 
brated scientist,  Monsieur  Foucault,  and  at  the  sale  of  his 
effects,  was  bought  and  presented  to  the  said  Advocate's 
Library,  to  be  henceforth  regarded  as  one  of  its  richest 
treasures.  It  is  clean,  legible,  and  entire,  and  its  vellum 
leaves  are  richly  ornamented  with  sacred  and  historical 
figures,  and  also  with  many  grotesques.  Some  claim  that 
it  dates  from  the  time  of  King  Malcolm  and  Queen  Mar- 
garet ;  but  Gaufrid,  first  Abbot,  was  a  man  of  singular 
piety  and  learning,  and  so  we  may  more  safely  presume 
that  he  brought  this  copy  from  Canterbury. 

In  the  Signet  Library,  a  very  beautifully  written  sermon 
on  the  text  "  None  but  Christ  "  by  Mr.  Walter  Dalgleish  of 
Dunfermline,  about  1650,  is  often  referred  to.  It  instances 
twenty-four  objections  to  Scriptural  doctrines  and  gives 
solutions  of  them. 

In  1708,  the  Palace  walls  fell,  and  eight  years  later,  the 
Lantern  Tower,  which  stood  at  the  junction  of  the  choir 
and  the  nave,  followed.    It  was  one  hundred  and  fifty 


DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 


■57 


feet  high,  thirty  feet  square,  and  in  each  of  the  sides  of  its 
two  stories  were  three  tall  lancet  windows,  twenty-four  in 
all.  After  the  destruction  of  1560,  the  floor  of  the  choir 
had  been  used  as  a  graveyard,  and  because  of  the  Psalms 
sung  therein  in  its  glorious  days,  this  resting  place  of  the 
dead  became  known  as  Sythar  or  Psalter  Kirkyard.  The 
digging  of  graves  had  weakened  the  tower's  foundations, 
hence  its  fall  ;  and  heavy  were  the  lamentations  thereat. 

As  we  turn  to  climb  our  way  through  the  narrow,  crooked 
streets,  oblivious  now  of  kingly  pomp  or  ecclesiastic  state, 
we  feel  that  it  has  been  good  for  us  to  see  and  thereby  the 
better  realise,  how  much  of  the  nation's  best  life  has  been 
bound  up  with  the  story  of  this  quaint  old-world  town. 
How  paltry  and  how  feeble  are  too  many  of  our  boasted 
efforts  in  architecture  and  its  restoration  when  compared 
with  the  work  of  those  wonderful  builders  who  builded  so 
strongly  and  so  well ;  for  here,  after  eight  hundred  years 
have  passed,  in  spite  of  frost  from  the  hills  and  hissing  rain 
and  driving  wind  from  the  sea,  the  old  gray  Abbey  remains 
massive  and  firm — and  yet  its  architects  are  unknown  to 
fame. 

Unmeet  is  it  for  any  one  to  even  seemingly  deride  the 
spirit  which  demands  an  honest  wage  for  the  necessary 
bread  and  butter  of  life  ;  yet  as  we  stand  within  our  ancient 
churches  and  view  their  perfect  beauty  of  moulded  art, 
carved  capital,  and  lacy  fretwork  of  hewn  stone,  we  learn 
a  new  and  ever-deepening  sense  of  the  meaning  of  the  term 
— "  To  the  glory  of  God."  The  scholarly  Bishop,  who  dis- 
dained not  to  carry  stones  from  the  quarry  for  the  rebuild- 
ing of  his  ruined  church  ;  the  Abbot  who,  laying  aside  the 
mitre  for  the  shovel  and  the  trowel,  acted  as  master  mason 
for  his  monks;  the  secular  brother,  of  whom  the  only  record 
may  fittingly  be  "  Ignotus,"  who  spent  his  days  in  hewing, 
his  nights  in  meditation  on  some  floral  wreath  or  archway 
of  saints'  heads,  gained  full  reward  for  the  labour  of  a  life- 
time in  having  thus  been  privileged  to  share  in  God's  service ; 
and  the  Bishop  and  the  mitred  Abbot  helped  Ignotus  mightily 


1 58 


D  UN  PERM  LINE  A  BBE  Y 


in  thus  fulfilling  "  He  that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be  as 
he  that  serves."  Service  has  become  of  late  years  too  sig- 
nificant of  menial  tasks  ;  our  forefathers  better  appreciated 
the  beauty  of  the  "  sweeping  of  a  room  to  God's  glory." 
The  late  William  Ewart  Gladstone  has  expressed  this  idea 
as  to  our  ancient  buildings  so  beautifully,  that  his  words 
deserve  to  be  more  widely  known  : — 

"  It  has  been  observed  as  a  circumstance  full  of  meaning, 
that  no  man  knows  the  names  of  the  architects  of  our 
Cathedrals.  They  left  no  record  of  themselves  upon  the 
fabrics,  as  if  they  would  have  nothing  there  that  could 
suggest  any  other  idea  than  the  glory  of  that  God,  to  whom 
the  edifices  were  devoted  for  perpetual  and  solemn  worship  ; 
nothing  to  mingle  a  meaner  association  with  the  profound 
sense  of  His  presence  ;  or  as  if,  in  the  joy  of  having  built 
Him  a  house,  there  was  no  want  left  unfulfilled,  no  room 
for  the  question  whether  it  is  good  for  a  man  to  live  in 
posthumous  renown." 

Carlyle  and  Gladstone — men  of  totally  different  minds, 
yet  both  masters — thus  plead  for  our  dead  past ;  and  we  in 
reply  need  seek  no  fairer  House  of  God,  no  more  gorgeous 
ritual  nor  service,  than  to  be  found  here  each  Sabbath  morn. 
We  stand  on  truly  hallowed  ground,  for  its  walls,  pillars, 
and  arches  have  echoed  to  the  sound  of  God's  glory  for 
over  eight  centuries;  and  the  dust  of  the  noble  and  the 
good,  builders  up  and  keepers  of  our  national  life,  wor- 
shipped here  in  life  and  now  lie  peacefully  in  death. 

In  the  year  1300,  the  monks  were  held  in  "high  repute  for 
sancity,  for  perfection  of  discipline,  and  for  great  charity." 
So  we  may  be  better  able  to  forgive,  if  not  to  forget,  the 
abuses  of  the  past  in  the  ever  present  charity  which 
covereth  the  multitude  of  transgressions  in  the  sight  of  the 
good  Christian.  Within  the  walls  of  God's  House,  surely 
one  of  the  greatest  gifts  is  charity.  Such  lessons  does  this 
Abbey  teach  !  Here  too,  should  we  recall  Queen  Margaret's 
"  Silence  of  good  thoughts." 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


St.  Mirin*.  Founded 
4th  to  6th  Century.  1163  a.d. 

"  I  doe  love  these  auncyent  abbeys  ! 
We  never  tread  within  them  but  we  set 
Our  foote  upon  some  reverend  historic" 

THOUGH  the  Abbey  of  Paisley,  founded  nearly  a 
century  later  than  that  of  Dunfermline,  must  there- 
fore yield  it  precedence  in  age,  Paisley  Abbey  is  none 
the  less  first  in  the  actual  importance  of  national 
historic  events  which  have  taken  place  within  its  walls  ;  and 
so  its  restoration,  now  going  on,  has  been  inspired  by  true 
patriotism,  and  renders  it  a  fitting  object  of  generosity  for 
all  Scots  at  home  and  abroad.  This  restoration  of  the  North 
Transept  and  of  the  Tower  also  brings  it  forward  into  greater 
prominence  than  any  of  the  other  Cathedrals  and  Churches 
at  the  present  time  (Brechin  excepted). 

It  is  a  common  but  none  the  less  an  erroneous  belief,  too 
often  obtaining  abroad,  that  Scotland's  ruined  Abbeys  and 
churches  remain  a  perpetual  lesson  as  to  the  power  and 
strength  of  the  Reformation,  and  are  therefore  to  be  honoured 
by  all  sincere  Protestants.  Not  so,  far  otherwise,  although 
no  one  could  wittingly  deny  the  necessary  zeal  of  the 
Reformers. 

The  era  marked  by  deliberate  ruin  to  so  many  of  these 
fair  Gothic  Abbeys  of  Southern  Scotland  was  twelve  to 

>59 


i6o 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


fifteen  years  before  the  Reformation.  To  the  armies  of  the 
tyrant  Henry  VIII.,  whom  Thomas  Carlyle  names  along 
with  "  four-footed  cattle,"  do  we  owe  the  partial  or  total 
destruction  of  such  abbeys  as  Melrose,  Dryburgh,  Kelso, 
Jedburgh,  and  Coldingham,  in  1544-45.  Though  the  native 
Reformers  certainly  expended  their  zeal  on  the  internal 
fittings  of  church,  abbey,  and  monastery,  rarely  were  they 
the  first  spoilers  of  the  buildings.  The  armies  of  the  Lords 
of  the  Congregation  swept  away  cloisters  and  dependent 
portions  of  the  monasteries,  and  by  them,  in  1559,  the 
outbuildings  of  Paisley  were  destroyed.  Neglect  and 
decay,  the  fallen  roof  and  rain-soaked  walls,  completed  the 
ruin,  and  now  only  the  Nave  and  South  Aisle  with  St.  Mirin's 
Chapel  are  left.  The  beautiful  Nave  serves  as  Parish  Church, 
and  apart  from  the  universal  desire  born  of  a  sentiment  of 
reverent  patriotism  that  the  building  should  be  restored,  the 
North  Transept  will  be  actually  required  for  seating  accom- 
modation. Here  perforce  the  "  half-day  hearer  "  has  been 
rather  encouraged,  and  many  pews  are  twice  rented — for 
morning  and  for  afternoon  services — even  the  passages  have 
been  utilised  for  seating  capacity. 

The  wave  of  fanaticism,  apparently  necessary  at  judicious 
intervals  for  the  best  welfare  of  the  Church,  has  long  since 
exhausted  itself.  Even  the  defence  of  the  iconoclastic 
feeling,  as  expended  on  the  fabric  of  the  Church,  exists  no 
longer  in  Scotland  ;  and  all  Presbyterians  realise  that  many 
of  their  ruined  buildings  were  temples  of  national  life,  and 
therefore  historically  (even  if  not  ecclesiastically)  are  of 
deepest  interest  to  all  patriotic  Scots. 

The  story  of  Paisley  Abbey  is  indeed  an  interesting  oner 
and  as  it  develops,  will  prove  its  right  of  place.  We 
are  intimate  and  familiar  with  modern  Paisley,  with 
its  world-wide  reputation  for  cotton  thread  and  oldtime 
shawls,  and  we  may  also  be  more  or  less  familiar  with  its- 
weavers — such  uncouth  weavers  as  Thrums  produces — and 
its  many  poets  of  whom  Tannahill  was  king.  The  Paisley 
"  body  "  is  a  national  type — exceedingly  self-important,  not 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


161 


always  superlatively  polite  or  courteous — but  none  the  less 
a  thrifty,  self-reliant  character,  "  uncommonly  prood  "  of  his 
birthplace  which  has  been  very  aptly  defined  as  "  a  town  of 
noble  ruins,  magnificent  modern  architecture,  and  mean 
streets."  To  its  Abbey,  wealthy  Paisley,  most  successful  of 
all  Scottish  manufacturing  towns,  owes  its  very  existence, 
a  perpetual  reminder,  when  we  need  one,  that  the  pre- 
Reformation  Church  was  far  from  being  entirely  evil,  for 
to  her  Paisley  still  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude.  Wordsworth 
might  have  had  Paisley  in  his  thoughts  when  he  penned — 

"  Yet  more  around  these  Abbeys  gathered  towns, 
Safe  from  the  feud  of  Castle's  haughty  frowns, 
Peaceful  abodes,  where  Justice  might  uphold 
Her  scales  with  even  hand,  and  Culture  mould 
Her  heart  of  pity,  train  the  mind  in  care 
For  rules  of  life  sound  as  the  time  could  bear." 

Paisley  claims  to  be  the  Roman  Yanduaria  (although 
Skene  maintains  its  site  is  elsewhere),  but  from  the  with- 
drawal of  the  Romans,  409  A.D.,  down  till  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury the  history  of  the  town  is  blank  or  legendary.  Its 
patron  Saint,  St.  Mirin,  settled  in  Strathclyde  either  in  the 
fourth  or  the  sixth  century,  and  is  referred  to  by  Fordun  in 
his  Chronicle  of  date  1140,  "The  kingdom  of  Strathclyde 
was  the  field  of  St.  Mirin's  labours,  and  the  destruction  of 
that  kingdom  by  Kenneth  III.,  in  972  A.D.,  and  the  flight  of 
many  of  its  inhabitants  into  Wales  about  872  A.D.  may 
account  for  the  lack  of  native  records  about  the  Saint. 
Mirinus  was  a  monk  of  Greece  and  sorry  am  I  to  say  that 
of  his  parentage  nothing  is  known."  But  according  to 
other  authorities  he  was  an  Irish  Saint  of  the  sixth  century, 
one  of  the  three  thousand  pupils  of  Comgall,  friend  of 
Columba  and  founder  of  the  great  Monastery  of  Bangor  in 
County  Down.  Even  as  late  as  the  twelfth  century  we  find 
St.  Bernard  calling  Bangor  "a  sacred  place  fertile  of 
Saints — filling  Ireland  and  Scotland  with  offspring." 

Legends  tell  of  St.  Mirin's  eloquence  and  powers  of  heal- 


162 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


ing.  On  his  death,  a  church  was  dedicated  to  him.  Several 
streets,  a  stream,- and  an  aisle  of  the  present  abbey  bear  his 
name,  and  the  Seal  of  the  Abbey  depicts  St.  Mirin  in  bishop's 
robes  with  staff,  and  the  prayer  :  "O  Mirin  !  pray  to  Christ 
for  the  souls  of  thy  servants." 

Inchmurrin,  Inchmaryn,  Kirkmirren,  Knockmirren,  are 
the  philologists'  proof  of  the  actual  existence  of  some  such 
saintly  character.  In  the  town's  original  charter  he  is 
designated  Saint  Mirrin,  the  Confessor  ;  and  he  again 
appears  later  on  the  town  seal,  together  with  the  fess 
cheque  of  the  Stewart  arms,  that  interesting  survival  and 
representation  of  the  counting  board  used  by  the  Steward 
in  his  duties. 

The  proverb,  "  Wealth  makes  wit  waver,"  comes  to  one's 
mind  as  we  read  of  old-time  Paisley.  In  the  various  books, 
chronicles,  and  charters  of  mediaeval  days,  we  read  of 
Paslet,  Passeleth,  Passelay,  Passelet,  Passlowe,  Passeleke, 
Pateslo,  Pasle,  Paslewe,  Paslay,  and  at  last  Paisley — a 
triumphant  evolution,  surely  perfected  at  last,  an  enduring 
example  of  "  What's  in  a  name  ?  " — as  well  as  a  big  bone 
of  contention  as  to  its  origin  or  real  meaning. 

When  the  Cymric  Celts  lost  power  in  Strathclyde,  and 
civil  strife  in  Alban  closed  with  the  story  of  Macbeth,  we 
find  in  Malcolm  Caenmore's  reign  a  great  influx  of  Saxon 
settlers ;  and  then,  during  the  reign  of  his  successive 
sons,  of  Norman  barons  with  their  followers.  Of  these, 
most  noted  became  "  Walter,  the  son  of  Alan,"  who  was 
the  son  of  Fleald,  or  Flathald,  a  Norman  who  obtained 
from  William  the  Conqueror  the  Castle  of  Oswestry, 
in  Shropshire,  and  from  whom,  too,  the  Fitz  Alans,  Earls 
of  Arundel,  claimed  descent.  But  tradition — and  to  every 
Scot,  living  or  dead,  tradition  has  been  one  of  the  powers 
of  life — says  that  Alan  was  son  of  that  Fleance  who 
fled  to  England  after  the  murder  of  his  father  Banquo 
by  Macbeth,  as  told  by  Shakespere.  This  Walter  Fitzalan 
was  welcomed  by  David  I.,  who  appointed  him  Seniscalus 
(German,  Seniscale,  oldest  of  servants),  and  granted  him 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


great  tracts  of  land  in  what  is  now  the  County  of  Ren- 
frewshire. When  King  David  died  in  1153,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  grandson,  Malcolm  IV.,  who  confirmed  a 
charter  on  Walter  as  to  lands  and  stewardship.  Malcolm 
IV.,  being  completely  under  the  power  of  Henry  II., 
yielded  to  him  all  right  to  Cumberland  and  Northumber- 
land ;  hence  we  find  that  Norman  barons  owned  estates 
in  both  countries,  and  swore  fealty  to  English  or  Scottish 
king  at  will.  In  one  of  Malcolm's  charters  we  read 
"French,  English,  Scots,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Galloway" 
(Celts).  It  was  this  Norman  Walter,  of  professedly  Celtic 
descent,  who  founded  a  church  at  Passelet,  in  1163,  and 
from  theClugniac  Abbey  of  St.  Millburga  at  Much  Wenlock, 
in  Shropshire,  brought  Prior  Humbald  and  thirteen  monks 
to  colonise  the  buildings. 

This  Priory  Church,  richly  endowed,  was  dedicated  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  to  St.  James,  patron  Saint  of  the 
Stewarts,  to  St.  Millburga,  and  to  St.  Mirinus,  founder  of 
the  more  ancient  church  on  the  Inch  of  Renfrew.  These 
Clugniac  monks  were  of  the  order  reformed  from  the 
Benedictines  by  Berno,  Abbot  of  Gigni,  and  completed 
by  Odo,  Abbot  of  Clugni,  about  912  a.d.  At  this  very  date 
of  Paisley's  foundation,  the  Abbey  of  Clugny,  in  France, 
"had  attained  a  degree  of  splendour  and  influence  un- 
rivalled by  any  similar  institution  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
second  to  Rome  only  as  a  chief  centre  of  the  Christian 
world  "  and,  until  the  erection  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  was 
ranked  as  the  largest  church  in  Christendom.  It  became 
the  asylum  of  kings,  the  training  school  of  popes  ;  its  abbot 
took  rank  above  all  others,  issued  his  own  coinage,  and  was 
a  power  in  the  political  world.  William  the  Conqueror  and 
the  Normans  were  devoted  to  Clugny  and  introduced  the 
Order  into  England — St.  Millburga's  being  ranked  as  the 
second  house  to  that  of  Lewes.  From  its  Archives,  now 
in  the  British  Museum  and  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale 
of  Paris,  we  learn  much  valuable  information  as  to  our  early 
Norman  kings.    Before  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century, 


164 


this  haughty  Clugniac  Order  had  already  given  to  the  world 
24  popes,  nearly  200  cardinals,  700  archbishops,  15,000 
bishops,  1,500  abbots,  4,000  Saints,  and  37,000  monasteries  ! 
In  addition,  we  may  add  of  powers  temporal — 20.  emperors, 
10  empresses,  47  kings,  over  50  queens,  princes  too  many 
to  enumerate,  and  a  mighty  array  of  eminent  and  learned 
men  such  as  Rabanus  of  the  German  School ;  Alcuinus, 
founder  of  the  University  of  Paris  ;  Guido,  inventor  of  the 
musical  scale  ;  Sylvester,  inventor  of  the  organ,  and  so  on. 
Such  a  list  enables  us  the  better  to  realise  to  what  powers, 
spiritual  and  temporal,  this  Mediaeval  Church  had  risen  ; 
and  now,  as  we  approach  Paisley,  we  should  also  be  better 
able  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  important  position  this 
Mother  Church  of  the  Order,  with  her  children  in  Cross- 
raguel,  Iona,  and  Feale,  held  in  Scotland. 

These  early  monks,  too,  how  picturesque  their  dress  of 
black  habit  and  scarlet  cowl,  the  material  of  softest  texture 
over  purest,  finest  linen — mediaeval  aesthetes  rather  than 
ascetics — priding  themselves  also  on  refinement  in  eating 
and  drinking.  They  used  no  manual  labour,  and  their 
ritual  was  both  gorgeous  and  elaborate.  Of  particular 
sweetness  and  richness  was  their  music,  and  in  the  rise 
and  fall  of  their  echoing  anthems  the  strictest  precision  as 
to  time  and  harmony  was  enjoined.  Not  only  were  their 
luxurious  habits  condemned  by  Peter  of  their  own  Order, 
but  they  had  also  departed  from  the  traditional  form  of 
architecture  ;  and  St.  Bernard,  in  his  Apologia,  of  date  1127, 
inveighs  bitterly  against  "the  useless  breadth  and  height, 
the  sumptuousness  and  empty  spaces"  of  their  churches. 
Later  still  we  read  of  severe  criticisms  on  the  grotesqueness 
of  their  carvings,  for  the  bestiary  period  was  now  developing 
to  fullest  exaggeration. 

Walter  the  Steward,  faithful  son  of  the  Church,  spent  his 
closing  days  in  the  Abbey  of  Melrose  ;  but  at  his  death,  in 
1 177,  he  was  buried,  as  were  all  his  successors  in  the 
Stewardship,  before  the  high  altar  of  his  Church  in  Paisley. 
Then  in  1220,  Pope  Honarius  III.  elevated  it  to  the  rank  of 


165 


an  Abbey,  and  in  1303,  its  abbots  were  raised  to  the  Mitre, 
with  attendant  privileges  and  powers  over  subject  and 
service.  In  a  record  of  the  reign  of  Alexander  III.,  we 
read,  "Coal  was  dug  for  Paisley." 

Most  interesting,  too,  are  the  details  of  the  perquisites, 
privileges,  and  revenues  of  the  Abbey,  and  also  of  the 
many  squabbles  with  the  Cathedral  Chapter  of  Glasgow- 
over  the  rights  of  fishing  in  the  Clyde  and  the  Cart.  The 
multures  and  dry  multures  of  the  mills  (grain  fee  and  money), 
the  rights  of  lock  and  gowpen  and  knaveship  (tributes  of 
meal  in  handfuls,  and  of  duty),  the  beeswax  for  lights,  the 
"black  stones"  for  fires,  and  above  all,  the  crown  points 
and  gallows'  rites  were  carefully  exacted.  These  crown 
points  conferred  the  court  authority  to  punish  and  fine 
for  rape,  rapine,  murder,  and  fire  raising,  and  so  made 
the  Abbot  supreme  in  power,  independent  of  each  and 
all,  even  subject  in  name  only  to  the  king.  The  gallows 
rites  too  were  esteemed  a  great  privilege,  as  the  right  to 
exercise  the  last  terror  of  the  law  emphasised  power,  and  the 
Clugniac  Order  were  ever  aggressive  in  this  respect.  From 
these  courts  and  rights  of  tribute,  revenue  became  so  great, 
that  we  need  not  wonder  at  Bishop  Leslie's  eloquence  in 
after  days — "  on  Paisley's  garden's,  deer  park,  and  walls  a 
mile  in  circuit,  its  imagery,  rich  furniture,  and  buildings  to 
vie  with  any  monastery  in  Europe." 

We  Scots  are  indebted  to  Paisley  for  many  details  of 
earlieF  national  life  and  custom,  as  well  as  those  of  our 
immigrant  Norman  over-lords,  our  Wallace,  our  Bruce,  and 
the  Stewarts.  We  owe  these  monks  a  deep  debt  of  grati- 
tude for  their  invaluable  records — known  to  the  "world  of 
historians  and  antiquarians  as  the  Chronicon  Clugniense,  or 
the  Black  Book  of  Paisley — carried  to  England  by  General 
Lambert,  and  bought  by  Charles  II.  for  £200.  It  now  rests 
in  the  British  Museum.  From  it  we  may  learn  that  the 
poor  and  the  stranger  within  their  gates  were  cared  for — 
seven  chalders  of  meal  was  their  weekly  dole  for  the  poor 
— and  that  when  Eneas  Sylvius,  afterwards  Pope  Pius  II., 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


visited  Scotland  in  1433,  "  half-naked  beggars  received 
stones  (coal)  at  "the  church  doors  with  joy."  (This  versatile 
Pope  painted  the  royal  group  of  King  James  I.  and  family, 
now  in  the  Vatican,  as  is  told  by  Jusserand  in  the  Romance 
of  a  King's  Life.)  How  little  could  any  one  of  these  monks 
or  curious  visitors  realise  the  power  and  wealth  coming  to 
the  country  from  these  same  "  black  stones." 

Fair  and  pleasant,  rich  and  powerful,  grew  the  Abbey  and 
its  domains,  and  yet  not  altogether  free  from  the  shadows 
of  adversity,  an  adversity,  however,  to  which  Paisley  and 
broad  Scotland  may  point  as  one  of  the  brightest  jewels  in 
her  crown  of  life.  The  uncle  of  William  Wallace,  the  purest 
and  most  single-minded  of  all  Scottish  patriots,  was  a  monk 
of  Paisley.  From  the  Abbey  Chartulary  we  know  that  the 
Wallace  family  had  been  more  or  less  closely  connected  with 
it  since  its  foundation,  and  among  its  cherished  associations 
we  may  join  in  thought  the  tribute  accorded  the  patriot  in 
Early  Days  0/ Sir  William  Wallace  by  the  late  Lord  Bute, 
himself  a  Stuart.  "Here  Malcolm  Wallace  and  Margaret, 
his  wife,  took  their  little  boys  on  the  great  Festivals  to  listen 
for  hours  to  the  solemn  rise  and  fall  of  the  Gregorian  Chant 
.  .  .  and  it  may  well  have  been,  as  the  sublime  composi- 
tions of  the  Hebrew  poets  alternately  thundered  and  wailed 
through  the  Abbey  of  Paisley,  that  William  W'allace  con- 
tracted that  love  for  the  Psalms,  which  lasted  until  he  died, 
with  a  priest  holding  the  Psalter  open  at  his  request 
before  his  darkening  eyes." 

No  need  to  expatiate  here  on  the  relentless  cruelty  with 
which  Edward  I.  hunted  Wallace  to  death  ;  and  in  the 
National  Councils  the  Abbot  and  monks  of  Paisley  had  ever 
been  loyal  to  Scottish  Independence.  Wallace's  Church 
must  share  her  heroic«son's  fate,  and  so  in  1307,  Alymer  de 
Valence,  English  Norman,  gave  to  the  flames  the  noble 
Church  of  Walter  the  Steward,  Scottish  Norman. 

Bruce  succeeded  Wallace,  and  though  we  associate  his 
name  with  Dunfermline,  it  was  before  the  high  altar  of 
Paisley  that  he  knelt,  by  order  from  Rome,  to  receive  abso- 


Marjory  Bruccs  Tom 


■  67 


lution  after  penance  for  the  murder  of  the  Red  Comyn  in 
Holy  Church  at  Dumfries. 

Alexander,  the  fourth  Steward  in  succession,  had  com- 
manded the  Scottish  army  at  Largs  in  1263  ;  and  we  may 
feel  assured  that  poems  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  rolled 
through  the  Abbey  on  that  occasion  ;  James,  his  son,  aided 
both  Wallace  and  Bruce  ;  and  Walter,  his  second  son  and 
sixth  Steward,  fought  so  bravely  at  Bannockburn,  that 
Barbour  commemorates  him  in  the  lines  : — 

'•  Walter  Stewart  of  Scotland  fyne, 
That  then  was  but  a  beardless  hyne, 
Came  with  a  rout  of  noble  men 
That  might  by  countenance  be  ken." 

For  his  bravery  he  was  duly  rewarded  with  the  hand  of 
Marjory,  the  king's  daughter,  a  real  love  match,  and  one  of 
those  many  marriages  which  have  changed  the  dynasties 
of  Britain. 

All  too  soon  was  the  mutual  joy  and  happiness  of  Walter 
and  Marjory  turned  to  solitary  dulc  and  woe,  for  on  Shrove 
Tuesday,  1316,  Princess  Marjory  fell  from  her  horse  and 
broke  her  neck,  when  riding  between  Paisley  and  Renfrew  ; 
and  the  motherless  infant,  whose  life  was  almost  miracu- 
lously saved,  brought  no  comfort  to  Walter  in  his  terrible 
grief.  He,  seeking  to  drown  his  sorrow,  engaged  in  border 
warfare,  and  after  ten  years,  died  in  1326,  a  broken-hearted 
man  only  thirty-three  years  of  age.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his 
Tales  of  a  Grandfather,  pays  just  and  noble  tribute  to  the 
Steward's  bravery  ;  and  the  loyal  friend  as  well  as  son-in- 
law  was  deeply  mourned  by  the  great  Bruce  who  only 
survived  him  three  years. 

Few  effigies  remain  in  Scottish  Churches  now,  but 
Marjory  Bruce's  canopied  tomb,  as  restored,  is  still  to  be 
seen  here  in  the  "Sounding  Aisle."  Her  child  eventually 
succeeded  as  first  Stewart  king  ;  she,  therefore,  was  the 
•"lass"  referred  to  by  broken-hearted  James  V.,  as  the 
mother  of  his  ill-fated  royal  race. 

One  of  the  piers  of  the  nave,  known  as  the  Cathcart 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


pillar,  carries  us  back  to  that  sad  year  when  "  the  good  Sir 
James  Douglas,"  with  his  little  company  of  brave  knights, 
set  out  with  the  heart  of  Bruce  in  silver  casket  on  that 
pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  denied  to  the  hero  in  life. 
Then  came  the  combat  with  the  Moors  in  Andalusia,  and 
Douglas's  mortal  wound,  received  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight 
as  he  threw  the  heart  forward  in  the  field,  saying,  "Onward, 
brave  heart,  as  thou  wert  wont ;  Douglas  will  follow  thee 
or  die."  Sir  Alan  Cathcart,  one  of  Paisley's  adherents, 
survived  with  his  followers,  and  in  sad  recessional  brought 
back  the  heart  to  rest  in  the  precincts  of  Melrose. 

Paisley  was  the  cradle  of  the  Stewarts,  and  as  Sir  Bernard 
Burke  says,  "  No  Scotsman  should  ever  forget  the  title  to 
honour  and  respect  which  the  family  of  Stewart  acquired, 
before  they  began  to  reign,  by  their  undeviating  and 
zealous  defence  of  their  native  land  against  the  wanton 
aggressiveness  of  the  English." 

When  Robert  III.,  grandson  of  Marjory,  broken-hearted 
over  one  son's  death  and  another's  captivity,  felt  himself  a 
dying  man,  he  declined  to  provide  a  tomb  for  himself 
according  to  custom,  but  said  to  his  Queen,  "  No  proud 
tomb  for  my  miserable  remains ;  cheerfully  would  I  be 
buried  in  the  meanest  shed  on  earth,  could  I  thus  secure 
rest  to  my  soul  in  the  day  of  the  Lord."  Here  may  we 
stand  by  his  grave  in  the  ruined  choir,  and  know  that, 
mingling  with  his  dust,  lie  the  bodies  of  six  Stewarts, 
Marjory  his  grandmother,  his  own  mother,  and  his  step- 
mother. Not  altogether  neglected,  however,  for  Queen 
Victoria,  justly  proud  of  her  Stewart  ancestry,  marked 
their  resting-place  by  a  rich  monument  of  Sicilian  marble, 
bearing  the  inscription  :  "To  the  memory  of  the  members 
of  the  Royal  House  of  Stewart  who  lie  buried  in  Paisley 
Abbey,  this  stone  is  placed  here  by  their  descendant  Queen 
Victoria  on  the  occasion  of  her  visit  to  Paisley,  1888." 

"  Those  ill-starred  ancestors 
Who  loved  the  Church  so  well  and  gave  so  largely  to  it : 
They  thought  it  should  have  canopied  their  bones 
Till  Doomsday — but  all  things  have  an  end." 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 

After  the  fire  in  1307,  and  owing  to  the  consequent 
unsettled  state  of  the  country  during  the  wars  with  England, 
the  buildings  remained  in  a  more  or  less  ruined  condition, 
to  the  great  distress  of  the  monks.  Aided  by  the  Bishop  of 
Glasgow  and  Argyle,  restoration  was  begun  during  the  time 
of  Abbot  Lithgow  (1 384-1433)  whose  memorial  tablet  is 
placed  in  the  North  Porch.  But  owing  to  the  troublous 
times,  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  is  reached  before 
we  hear  of  the  completion  of  a  new  Abbey  on  a  scale  of 
magnificence  which  excited  the  admiration  of  Christendom. 
From  1445-59  Abbot  Tervas  worked  unremittingly,  and 
moneys  were  raised  by  every  means  possible.  According  to 
our  modern  ideas,  one  of  the  sources  of  revenue  seems  very 
far  from  commendable — although  ours  rather  than  theirs  are 
the  times  of  drunkenness.  The  privilege  of  keeping  a  tavern 
for  the  sale  of  wine  within  the  gates  of  the  Abbey  was 
granted  to  the  Abbot,  and  from  the  Chronicle  of  Auchinleck 
we  learn  that  he  found  the  place  in  ruin  and  "the  kirk 
unbiggit."  When,  with  full  purse,  he  made  his  journey  to 
Rome,  the  same  authority  tells  "  He  brocht  hame  mony 
gude  jewillis  and  claithes  of  gold,  siller  and  silk  and  mony 
gude  bukis  and  the  statliest  tabernkle  in  al  Skotland  and  the 
maist  costlie."  He  had  also  chandeliers  of  silver  and  a 
lectern  of  brass.  As  the  burial-place  of  the  early  Stewarts, 
the  Abbey  had  become  a  place  of  pilgrimage,  and  the 
offerings  of  the  devout  added  greatly  to  the  revenue. 

In  Sir  Walter's  notes  on  The  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  we 
find  that  the  Scots  and  Kerrs  entered  on  a  bond  that  the 
head  of  each  rival  clan  must  go  in  pilgrimage  to  Paisley, 
Melrose,  Scone,  and  Dundee,  to  pray  for  the  souls  of  those, 
fallen  in  their  feud.  Before  the  beautiful  High  Altar  came 
also  King  James  IV.,  in  hair  shirt  and  iron  belt,  to  pour  out 
his  soul  in  prayer  and  penitence  for  the  tragic  death  of  his 
father. 

By  this  time,  Abbot  Tervas,  whose  energies  had  accom- 
plished much,  had  departed  in  peace,  and  his  place  had 
been  ably  filled  by  Abbot  Shaw,  1472-98.    The  troubles  at 


i7o 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


home  had  been  but  shifted,  not  settled,  for  Pope  Pius  II. 
had  decreed  that  the  appointment  of  Abbot  and  disposition 
of  the  whole  revenues  should  be  settled  from  Rome,  and 
Abbot  Shaw  bravely  resisted  such  encroachments  on  the 
Abbey's  right  and  privileges.  Even  this  richly  endowed 
Abbey,  specially  favoured  by  Royal  patronage,  never  reached 
a  haven  of  quiet  rest,  and  one  perforce  thinks  of  its  suppressed 
cry  as  "  Peace  !  peace  !  "  where  there  was  no  peace. 

Following  the  precedent  set  by  his  independent  predeces- 
sors, Abbot  Shaw  gained  new  privileges  from  James  IV.  in 
1488.  For  the  village  without  the  walls,  he  obtained  a 
charter  which  constituted  it  a  Burgh  of  Barony  under  the 
fostering  care  of  the  Conventual  Church.  Renfrew  objected 
so  strongly  to  these  new  rights  that  legal  steps  had  to  be 
taken  to  maintain  the  "monastic  regality";  and  until  1628 
Paisley  remained  the  vassal  of  the  Abbey.  (The  magistrates 
purchased  its  superiority  then,  and  in  1665  were  granted  a 
Royal  Charter;  finally,  by  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832,  the 
town  has  the  right  to  elect  a  member  for  Parliament.  So 
the  Abbey  is  Mother  Church  of  Paisley  in  the  fullest  sense 
of  the  term.  Queen  Victoria's  visit  in  1888  was  in  honour 
of  its  fourth  centenary.) 

Abbot  Shaw  improved  and  added  to  the  buildings, 
surrounded  gardens  and  grounds  with  a  wall  a  mile  in 
circuit,  adorned  the  same  with  statues  and  shields,  and 
built  an  imposing  tower  over  the  principal  gateway. 
Shawlands  keeps  his  memory  ever  green  to  the  children 
of  Paisley,  and  a  tablet,  now  in  the  Coates  Museum,  to- 
gether with  panels  of  royal  arms,  &c,  is  all  that  remains 
of  the  famed  wall.    On  this  tablet  is  cut — 

"  Ya  callit  ye  Abbot  Gcorg  of  Schawe 
About  yis  Abbay  gart  make  yis  war 
A  thousande  four  hundereth  zehyr 
Auchty  ande  fyve  the  date  but  veir 
(Pray  for  his  saulis  salvacioun) 
Yet  made  thys  nobil  fundacioun." 


One  year  after  the  Abbot's  death,  James  Crawford,  a 


PAISLEY  ABBE)' 


Burgess  of  the  newly-made  Burgh,  built  and  endowed 
St.  Mirin's  Chapel  in  the  South  Transept.  Aytoun's 
Edinburgh  after  Floddcn  brings  vividly  before  us  those 
burgesses  with  "hearts  stout  and  true,"  who  had  risen  to 
national  prominence  and  respect,  and  who  formed  the 
backbone  of  the  country. 

The  leaven  of  the  Reformation  was  even  then  working  in 
the  land,  and  during  the  time  of  Abbot  Hamilton,  1525-44, 
we  can  read  deeply  between  the  lines.  A  record  tells  that 
"  He  built  a  prettie  handsome  steeple  which  fell  before  it 
was  well  finished."  This  was  in  1530.  The  choir  was 
ruined  by  the  tower,  and  storms  and  decay  afterwards  did 
their  work.  This  Abbot  became  Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  then 
Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews;  and  when  driven  from  his  See 
again  sought  asylum  in  Paisley,  but  had  to  flee  to  the  strong 
shelter  of  Dunbarton  Castle.  Finally,  his  execution  at 
Stirling  Castle,  in  1570,  brought  his  sore  travail  for  life 
to  an  end.  His  body  lies  in  the  Abbey,  and  the  words 
"  Misericordia  et  Pax  "  with  his  coat-of-arms  and  the  initials 
"J.  H."  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  North  Aisle.  A  popular 
story  is  told  of  this  Paisley  dignitary  and  his  devotion  to 
Queen  Mary,  most  ill-starred  of  all  the  Stewarts.  After  the 
battle  of  Langside — a  short  distance  from  the  Abbey — he 
followed  her  to  Dundrennan  and  the  shores  of  the  Solway, 
even  wading  knee  deep  into  its  waters,  clutching  at  her  boat 
with  both  hands  whilst  entreating  her  not  to  leave  her  own 
country.  Little  did  either  of  them  think  that  a  scaffold 
awaited  both,  and  that,  sixteen  years  later  than  her  subject, 
she,  the  Queen,  would  end  her  chequered  life  at  that  same 
Castle  of  Fotheringay  from  which,  four  hundred  and  twenty 
years  before,  Walter  the  first  Steward  had  dated  his  charter 
for  the  foundation  of  his  Priory  Church  at  Paisley. 

To  the  story  of  the  Reformation,  Paisley  forms  no  great 
exception.  John  Knox  was  not  the  iconoclast  of  popular 
belief,  neither  were  the  people  in  many  of  these  quiet  grey 
towns  dissatisfied  with  their  ecclesiastic  superiors  as  land- 
lords.   As  a  matter  of  fact,  reform  worked  slowly  here — 


172 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


very  slowly.  In  1626,  Paisley  was  such  "a  nest  of  Papists," 
that  its  Jenny  Geddesses  rose  in  tumult  and  drove  out  of  the 
town,  with  stones  and  vituperation,  a  most  grave  and  noted 
Protestant  divine — Boyd  of  Trochrig — a  man,  famed  not 
only  in  Scotland,  but  amongst  French  Huguenots.  John 
Knox,  in  his  first  Book  of  Discipline,  provided  for  the  main- 
tenance of  all  the  cathedral,  conventual,  and  collegiate 
Churches  and  Chapels,  which  were  at  the  same  time  Parish 
Churches,  "and  the  orders  issued  in  1560  for  the  burning  of 
images  and  removal  of  altars"  strictly  enjoined  that  no  harm 
should  be  done  to  the  Churches  "in  glass  work  or  in  iron 
work  in  stall,  door,  or  window."  He  also  most  solemnly 
denounced  the  vengeance  of  God  upon  "the  merciless 
devourers  of  the  patrimony  of  the  Kirk,"  and  upheld  a 
colleague's  assertion  that  "the  kirks  and  temples  were  now 
more  like  sheep-cots  than  the  House  of  God,  and  that  men 
had  no  right  religion  in  most  part  of  the  realm." 

Alas  !  Henry  VIII.  had  set  a  tempting  example,  and  the 
spirit  of  grab  and  greed  is  easily  acquired.  Henry  gave 
Church  lands  freely  to  his  less  scrupulous  supporters,  and 
"  the  Russells  were  residents  in  Woburn  Abbey  ere  a  stone 
had  been  cast  down  in  Scotland."  Scots  may  well  recall 
this  and  many  such  facts  when  their  English  brethren  flout 
them  for  the  fanatic  destruction  of  their  beautiful  Abbeys. 
"  The  Lairds  coveted  the  Church  lands,"  the  Master  of 
Sempill  was  appointed  bailie  of  this  Abbey,  and  at  the  Dis- 
solution, the  Church  property  fell  into  the  possession  of 
Lord  Sempill.  Eventually  the  lands  were  conferred  on 
Claude  Hamilton  (a  boy  of  ten),  founder  of  the  Abercorn 
family,  nephew  of  the  Archbishop,  and  created  Lord  Paisley 
in  1587,  to  whom  Scott  refers  in  : — 

"  Stern  Claud  replied  with  dark'ning  face, 
Grey  Paisley's  haughty  lord  was  he." 

A  mural  tablet  in  the  Abbey,  describing  him  as  "  Pasleti 
dominus,"  tells  of  the  death  of  three  infant  children,  and  the 


173 


"  sternness"  may  have  been  assumed  to  mask  his  grief  from 
the  common  eye. 

Then  followed  in  succession  the  Earls  of  Angus  and 
Dundonalcl,  owners  by  purchase  ;  again  the  lordship  was 
repurchased  by  the  Earl  of  Abercorn,  in  1764.  The  Monas- 
tic buildings  had  been  turned  into  "The  Place  "  of  Paisley 
and  used  as  a  residence.  Hither  in  1597,  Queen  Ann,  wife 
of  James  VI.,  came  on  a  visit  to  the  Earl  in  his  new  "baronial 
hall  "  ;  and  in  1617,  the  King  himself,  on  his  return  from 
England,  made  a  special  visit  to  this  home  of  his  early  ances- 
tors. This  "  Place"  has  been  broken  up  into  small  dwelling 
houses,  and  in  the  present  Restoration  Scheme  it  is  proposed 
to  acquire  the  property  as  homes,  "  where  poor  widows, 
good  old  Scotchwomen,  might  spend  the  evening  of  their 
days  in  peace  "  as  pensioners  and  attendant  keepers  of  the 
Abbey. 

Before  the  fall  of  the  tower,  in  1530,  the  whole  length  of 
the  Abbey  was  260  feet.  The  decorated  choir  was  aisleless, 
123  feet  long,  and  very  narrow — 23  feet  wide ;  only  the  out- 
line of  its  walls  remain,  but  the  fine  sedilia,  over  11  feet  long 
and  containing  four  seats  (three  is  the  usual  number)  still 
stand,  along  with  a  water  drain  and  credence  niche.  The 
Choir  forms  great  exception  in  being  longer  than  the  Nave. 

The  North  Transept,  92  feet  long  by  35  feet  wide,  and  a 
beautiful  window,  35  by  18  feet,  of  fine  tracery  work  are 
now  in  course  of  restoration  at  a  cost  of  £22,000.  On  the 
West  Buttress  we  may  see,  at  a  height  of  21  feet,  the  shield 
of  the  Stewarts  with  an  abbot's  pastoral  staff — the  crozier 
turned  inwards — and  the  word  "  Stewart." 

The  South  Transept  is  continued  by  St.  Mirin's  Chapel, 
with  ablution  drain,  credence  niche,  and  finely  carved  panels 
over  its  altar  site,  representative  of  the  Seven  Sacraments,  or, 
as  some  aver,  of  the  events  of  St.  Mirin's  life.  As  before 
said,  Marjory  Bruce's  tomb  stands  here,  removed  from  the 
roofless  Choir.  This  is  also  called  the  Sounding  Aisle  be- 
cause of  a  wonderful  echo  when  the  door  is  banged. 

The  Nave,  109  feet  in  length  by  60  feet  in  width,  con- 


'74 


PAISLEY  ABBEY 


sists  of  six  bays,  divided  by  circular  pillars,  with  triforium 
and  clerestory  carried  round  at  a  height  of  82  feet  upon 
corbels  "  which  may  have  supported  lights."  Each  pillar 
springs  from  grotesque  sculptured  figures  of  men  and 
animals,  a  very  natural  form  of  decoration  when  we  recall 
the  tendencies  of  Clugniac  monks. 

On  the  eastern  part  of  the  South  Aisle  there  are  a  doorway, 
three  bays,  and  three  windows  above,  which  evidently  date 
from  the  thirteenth  century,  and  are  therefore  restored 
remains  of  that  earliest  Church,  burned  in  1307.  In  the 
present  work  on  the  Transept,  and  on  the  Tower  walls 
which  are  to  be  carried  up  as  far  as  necessary  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  walls  of  the  Nave — in  anticipation  of  a  restora- 
tion of  the  Choir — several  interesting  excavations  have 
been  made.  Two  four-sided  pillars,  about  5^  feet  long,  with 
rounded  tops,  show  curiously  carved  crosses  on  one  face. 
They  are  evidently  portions  of  that  earliest  Priory  Church, 
as  similar  stones,  found  in  Derbyshire,  are  adjudged  to 
belong  to  the  twelfth  century. 

The  West  Front,  belonging  in  its  lower  half  to  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  the  upper  window,  with  its  "  crown 
window,"  are  very  effective  in  their  subdued  lights  ;  and  the 
Nave  as  it  now  stands  is  one  of  Scotland's  fairest  kirks.  Its 
windows  of  stained  glass  are  exceedingly  rich  and  mellow 
in  their  tones  of  soft  colouring,  and  are  equal  to  any  collection 
from  our  modern  English  studios. 

Forty  years  ago,  this  Nave  was  cleaned,  restored,  and 
decorated  by  a  number  of  earnest  Churchmen,  headed  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Cameron  Lees,  now  of  St.  Giles'  Cathedral, 
Edinburgh.  His  story  of  the  Abbey  is  alike  inspiring  and 
instructive,  and  no  one  has  better  claim  to  be  recorded  than 
he  in  reference  to  the  present  movement. 

"  If  our  American  kinsmen  envy  us  in  anything,  it  is  the 
inspiring  and  solemnising  influence  of  such  great  historic 
buildings  as  the  Abbey  of  Paisley.  Scotland  does  not 
possess  many  such  buildings,  but  the  Abbey  is  one.  It  has 
a  great  and  remarkable  history,  entwined  with  that  of  our 


The  West  Winder, 


PAISLEY  ABBEY  175 

nation.  Under  its  roof  was  the  tomb  of  the  first  preacher 
of  Christianity  at  Paisley.  Within  its  walls  the  earlier  gene- 
rations of  the  great  house  of  Stewart,  a  King  and  Queen 
among  them,  lie  buried.  Before  its  altar  Sir  William 
Wallace  worshipped  and  King  Robert  the  Bruce  knelt  in 
penitence.  Great  men  have  been  there  and  have  acted 
their  part  there.  Can  it  be  creditable — is  it  not  in  some 
degree  a  scandal — that  any  part  of  the  historic  pile,  this 
great  link  with  olden  time,  should  be  allowed  to  remain  in 
ruin  and  desolation — its  walls  standing  gaunt  and  bare 
amid  the  tide  of  modern  wealth  and  civilisation  that  surges 
around  them  ?  Wise  men  everywhere  esteem  such  legacies 
of  the  past  so  precious  that  they  do  anything  in  their  power 
for  their  preservation.  Nor  ought  Paisley  to  forget  that  it 
is  to  the  Abbey  it  owes  its  corporate  existence.  Paisley 
came  into  being  not  by  mandate  of  the  sovereign  or  the 
favour  of  the  noble.  She  is  the  child  of  the  Abbey.  Is  it 
fitting  that  the  child  should  grow  so  rich  and  prosperous 
and  the  mother  be  left  bare  and  desolate  ?  Considerations 
such  as  these,  I  confess,  impress  me  more  than  the  utilitarian 
one — though  I  do  not  underrate  it  —  of  congregational 
accommodation.  There  may  be  kirks  built  with  compara- 
tive ease,  but  there  can  be  only  one  abbey." 

With  pealing  organ  and  choir  of  rich  voices,  the  weekly 
service  of  this  Abbey,  now  parish  church  of  Paisley,  is 
dignified  in  its  simplicity  and  hallowed  by  its  surroundings 
and  their  associations.  But  as  before  said,  the  membership 
is  greater  than  the  accommodation,  hence  this  appeal  for 
the  restoration  of  North  Transept  first,  then  the  Choir,  the 
Tower,  and  the  Place — surely  an  elevating  sentiment  which 
would  re-people 

"  The-  shrines  where  art  and  genius  high 
Have  laboured  for  eternity." 


IN  COMPLIANCE  WITH  CURRENT 
COPYRIGHT  LAW 
OCKER  &  TRAPP  INC. 
AND 

PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 
PRODUCED  THIS  REPLACEMENT  VOLUME 
ON  WEYERHAEUSER  COUGAR  OPAQUE  NATURVL  PAPER, 
THAT  MEETS  ANSI/NTSO  STANDARDS  ZJ9.48-1992 
TO  REPLACE  THE  IRREPAR\BLY 
DETERIORATED  ORIGINAL.  2001 


